Australia win Champions trophy comfortably after some anxious moments against weakened NZ

Australia 4/206 (45.2 ov, S Watson 105*, C White 62) def New Zealand 9/200 (50 ov) by 6 wkts, Champions Trophy final at Centurion.

Shane Watson's 105* (129b 10x4, 4 x6), his second century in three days, took Australia to what on paper looked to be a comfortable victory but in reality was a tighter contest.

Daniel Vettori's very late withdrawal from the side was a hard blow to NZ's hopes. Both sides struggled against sharp bowling until Watson and Cameron White took control and by adding 128 for the 3rd wicket in 193 balls.

This has been a good tournament with many sides evenly matched. The absence of minnows (aka easybeats) enabled the event to be pared down so that cricket followers were less likely to be bored by the length of the series and the number of one sided games. The 50 overs a side ODI may still be a threatened species but this tournament may have given it a fresh lease of life.

Scorecard.

Ruthless Australian batting overwhelms England in semi-final

Australia 1/259 (R Ponting 111*, S Watson 136*) beat England 257 (T Bresnan 80) by nine wickets. Champions Trophy ODI semi-final at Centurion South Africa

Masterly batting by Ricky Ponting 111* (115b/12x4, 1x6) and Shane Watson 136*(132/10x4, 7 x6) swept the England bowling aside after the lower order, marshalled by the unlikely figure of Tim Bresnan 80 (76b/11x4), had staved off the looming disaster of 6/101 and posted a competitive 257 all out.


Scorecard

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