BIRMINGHAM – England qualified for semi-finals after overpowering Australian team in a must-win game for latter by 40 runs through Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (D/L) system here on Saturday.
England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and invited Australia to bat first in the Champions Trophy 2017 match. Australian team set a total of 277 runs in complete fifty overs for the loss of nine wickets.
TM Head scored 71 runs while AJ Finch bagged 68 runs to help Aussies set a reasonable target.
England team started off with early dismissals however, BA Stokes made crucial 102 runs and EJG Morgan added 87 to the total. Rain interrupted today’s play as well for which England scored 240 in 41 overs.
After prolonged wait for clouds to disperse, the management decided to opt D/L method to decide who remained victorious after Which England emerged as triumphant and reserved a spot in semi-finals.
Australia who did not lose or win a single match finally would head home in what appears to be a rare kind of scenario for well groomed team.
The match started at 02.30 pm Pakistan Standard Time (PST).
Australia had to endure the frustration of two washed out matches, the second of which they had almost won against Bangladesh. It now meant that they had to beat England in this match to ensure a place in the knockout stages.
England, on the other hand, looked to be the only team in this year’s edition of the tournament to come out of the group stage unscathed.
The host team have qualified for the semifinals by beating Bangladesh and New Zealand. A win in today’s game will keep their momentum going in the elimination stages of the mega event.
England Team
JJ Roy, AD Hales, JE Root, EJG Morgan*, BA Stokes, JC Buttler†, MM Ali, AU Rashid, LE Plunkett, MA Wood, JT Ball
Australia Team
AJ Finch, DA Warner, SPD Smith*, MC Henriques, TM Head, GJ Maxwell, MS Wade†, MA Starc, PJ Cummins, A Zampa, JR Hazlewood
