Australia bounced back from the embarrassment of defeat against Zimbabwe to crush England by eight wickets in a Twenty20 World Championship match at Newlands on Friday.
Needing a win to advance past the group stage, Australia produced an emphatic performance, bowling out England for 135 and then racing to victory in 14.5 overs.
Left-arm pace bowlers Nathan Bracken and Mitch Johnson took three wickets each as Australia kept a tight clamp on the England batsmen.
Australian opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden, who both fell early to reckless shots in the five-wicket defeat by lowly Zimbabwe, were back in dominant form as they shared a stroke-filled opening stand of 78 in 8.1 overs before Gilchrist was caught at long-on off leg-spinner Chris Schofield.
Gilchrist made 45 off 27 balls. Hayden went on to make an unbeaten 67 off 43 balls.
The result meant that Australia topped the group, with England also going through to the Super Eights stage on net run rate ahead of Zimbabwe. All three teams won one match.
England were tied down early by the Australian bowlers, with Johnson bowling a tight first spell of 2-14 off three overs to put pressure on the top order. He finished with 3-22.
Bracken was taken out of the attack after conceding eight runs in his first over but came back strongly to finish with 3-16 off four overs, earning the man-of-the-match award.
Andrew Flintoff was England’s top scorer with 31 off 19 balls but England were unable to put together any significant partnerships.
England were only able to score 52 runs in the first nine overs, losing three wickets.
Kevin Pietersen and captain Paul Collingwood briefly threatened to shift the balance towards England, putting on 25 in three overs before Collingwood was leg before to Brett Lee shortly after slogging a six from a free hit after Lee bowled a no-ball.
Flintoff and Owais Shah both hit sixes off off-spinner Andrew Symonds in the space of three balls but both fell in quick succession to Johnson and Stuart Clark. — AFP
