England captain Michael Vaughan’s one-day international best score of 86 guided his team into the Champions Trophy final as they defeated world champions Australia by six wickets at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Tuesday.
Set 260 to win in this semifinal, England finished on 262 for four, ending a run of 14 straight one-day international defeats against Australia stretching back to 1999.
Andrew Strauss was 52 not out and Paul Collingwood six not out, as England won with 21 balls to spare.
Ricky Ponting was gracious in defeat.
”They outplayed us,” he said. ”They batted beautifully and we were never able to really get going. As for the winning streak coming to an end, well, it had to at some point.”
Vaughan, too, wasn’t much bothered about ending the losing streak.
”As I said before, there were only two players from the side that lost to them in 1999 still in the side, so it doesn’t really matter.
”Australia were probably 30 runs short of their desired total but we took wickets at vital moments and then Trescothick gave us the start we really needed.”
Vaughan was as down to earth as ever about collecting his man-of-the-match award in which he also took two wickets with his offspin.
”I felt I owed the side some runs in one-day cricket. I wasn’t really expecting it to be a day for offspin so it was a bit of a surprise.”
Together with Marcus Trescothick (81), Vaughan put on 140 for the second wicket in 26-and-a-half overs to take England to 161 for two after the loss of opener Vikram Solanki (seven).
When Vaughan saw a miscued pull off Brett Lee caught by Matthew Hayden, he’d faced 122 balls with nine fours and England needed just 33 off 44 balls for victory.
Earlier, Damien Martyn’s 65 was the centrepiece of Australia’s 259 for nine with Michael Clarke’s 34-ball 42 adding useful late runs.
Fast-bowler Darren Gough took an expensive three for 48 in seven overs, while Vaughan, an occasional off-spinner, finished with an economical two for 42 off 10 overs.
Lee, chosen in place of all-rounder Shane Watson to form a four-man pace attack with McGrath, Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz, then found Vaughan in majestic form with the bat, Vaughan turned Lee, Australia’s quickest bowler, off his legs for four and two balls later unfurled a magnificent extra-cover drive that sped to the boundary.
Then Vaughan drove Lee through the covers and two balls later pulled him for an elegant four over mid-on.
Later in the over, Vaughan stroked Lee through the covers yet again before unleashing a backfoot boundary.
In all, 18 runs came off the 15th over, England 89 for one at the end of the fielding restrictions with Lee’s first three overs costing 20 runs.
Trescothick then advanced down the pitch and drove Kasprowicz for a straight six to go to 54 off 54 balls also featuring seven boundaries.
Vaughan went to 50 with a late cut four against off-spinner Andrew Symonds. But Symonds broke the stand when he bowled Trescothick, moving outside leg-stump for an 88-ball innings.
New batsman Strauss, scoring briskly but calmly, was the ideal partner for Vaughan as England, needing 48 off the last 10 overs, closed in on victory.
”When I came in it was just a question of getting us over the line but it was a great team effort,” said Strauss, who has made a huge impact since making his test debut earlier this year.
”It was a very good wicket and of course when I came in it was just a question of when we won,” he added, laughing.
After Andrew Flintoff fell for a rapid 16, Strauss went to a 39-ball 50 with his sixth four, a cover-drive off Kasprowicz before Collingwood hit the winning runs.
Australia’s major stand of their innings saw Martyn and Darren Lehmann put on a near risk-free 75 in just 82 balls for the fourth wicket after Vaughan won the toss on a grey, cold day in front of a less than half-full crowd.
Vaughan, though, ended the partnership when he bowled county teammate Lehmann for a 42-ball 38.
Five balls later, Australia dangerman Symonds was run out for nought by Vaughan, sprinting in from cover to whip the bails off at the striker’s end, after the batsman set off following Stephen Harmison’s lbw appeal.
Vaughan then removed Martyn, who faced 91 balls with six fours, with the aid of Trescothick’s well-judged catch on the mid-wicket boundary.
Gough bowled Lee and Gillespie in successive balls before Kasprowicz survived the hat-trick.
Clarke’s fine innings, featuring five fours, ended when he was bowled by Andrew Flintoff in the last over.
England, in their first Champions Trophy final, face the winners of Wednesday’s Rose Bowl semifinal between Pakistan and West Indies at The Oval on Saturday. — Sapa-AFP