England too good for Australia in all departments: Champions Trophy ODI

"England draw first blood after pacemen shackle weakened Australia" says the headline on
this report . It looks, from, what I saw of the match, to be an accurate summary.

I missed most of the England innings as I was at "Shane Warne the musical " ( well worth seeing if you get the chance).

When Australia batted Warner was lead footed, Watson looked solid (though not forceful) for a while, and Hughes seemed to be playing himself in, albeit uncomfortably, but lbw Root when he chose the wrong ball to move up a gear.

Bailey to many people (inc me and Warne - in the commentary box, not onstage)'s surprise was the best of a modest bunch.

Without the injured Michael Clarke ( an unfortunate but increasingly likely possibility) Australia will find it hard to qualify for the finals: they need to beat NZ & SL to do so. Maybe the squad should be augmented by some of the better performing Australia A team which is playing in the UK cricketing backblocks at present (read Brad Haddin and Peter Siddle, both of whom scored 100s this week against Scotland).

England 6/296 (50ov, Bell 91, Bopara 46*, Trott 43) def Australia 9/221 (50ov, Bailey 55, Faulkner 54*, Anderson 3/30) by 48 runs: Champions Trophy Group A match at Edgbaston, Birmingham.

Scorecard