Centurion, October 03: Unbeaten centuries from opener Shane Watson and skipper Ricky Ponting kept defending champions Australia in contention to retain the title after they knocked out England from the Champions Trophy with nine wickets in the semi-final at the SuperSport Park here Friday.
Chasing a target of 258, Watson (136 not out) and Ricky Ponting (111 not out) were in complete control of the game as Australia romped home in 41.5 overs.
England were bowled out for 257 runs in 47.4 overs after captain Andrew Strauss opted to bat.
Watson and Ponting mocked the English bowling and shared an unbroken stand of 252 for the second wicket and surpassed many records enroute to the win. Australia will now play the winner of the match between Pakistan and New Zealand in the final.
Both Ponting and Watson were in complete command of the innings after opening batsman Tim Paine departed early in the second over.
Ponting scored his 28th ODI century during his 115 balls innings, while Man of the match Watson with his 136 not out from 132 balls scored his highest and third century in 89 games.
Earlier in the day, a defiant 107-run seventh-wicket stand between Luke Wright (48) and Tim Bresnan (80) pulled out England after they were in total disarray at 101 for six. Joe Denly (36) and Paul Collingwood (34) also played crucial knocks.
Peter Siddle picked up three for 55, while Brett Lee and Shane Watson bagged two wickets each.
he following is the scoreboard of the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy between title-holders Australia and England at the SuperSport Park here Friday.
England:
Andrew Strauss c Hopes b Siddle 14
Joe Denly c Paine b Siddle 36
Owais Shah c Paine b Lee 0
Paul Collingwood c Paine b Johnson 34
Eoin Morgan c Paine b Watson 9
Steve Davies b Watson 5
Luke Wright c Paine b Siddle 48
Tim Bresnan b Lee 80
Graeme Swann run out (Hauritz/Paine) 18
James Anderson not out 5
Graham Onions run out (Ferguson/Paine) 1
Extras (w 6, nb 1) 7
Total (all out in 47.4 overs) 257
Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Strauss, 1.6 overs), 2-16 (Shah, 2.4), 3-71 (Collingwood, 11.2), 4-91 (Denly, 17.2), 5-100 (Davies, 18.5), 6-101 (Morgan, 20.2), 7-208 (Wright, 39.6), 8-245 (Swann, 45.1), 9-251 (Bresnan, 46.2)
Bowling:
Brett Lee 9-0-46-2
Peter Siddle 10-0-55-3
James Hopes 4-0-28-0
Mitchell Johnson 10-1-61-1
Shane Watson 8.4-1-35-2
Nathan Hauritz 6-0-32-0
Australia:
Shane Watson not out 136
Tim Paine c Davies b Onions 4
Ricky Ponting not out 111
Extras (lb 2, w 5) 7
Total (for one wicket in 41.5 overs) 258
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (Paine, 1.3 overs)
Bowling:
James Anderson 8.5-0-48-0
Graham Onions 8-0-47-1
Tim Bresnan 8-0-51-0
Paul Collingwood 8-0-50-0
Graeme Swann 5-0-31-0
Luke Wright 3-0-18-0
Owais Shah 1-0-11-0
Result: Australia won by nine wickets
Toss: England, who chose to bat
Player of the match:
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and Billy Bowden (New Zealand)
TV umpire: Tony Hill (New Zealand)
Match referee: Jeff Crowe (New Zealand)
–IANS–