Champions Trophy 2017: England Knockout Arch-Rivals Australia

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Match Highlights:

• England defeated Australia by 40 runs via D/L method
• Australia is out of the tournament with this defeat
• England and Bangladesh are through to the semi-finals as first and second respectively

One the most anticipated matches of the tournament ended in England’s favor as they beat Australia by 40 runs in a rain-affected match. A scorching counter-attack from Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes, who made a gem of a century, enabled England to eliminate Australia from the tournament. England turned on their flamboyance to ensure Bangladesh will contest in the semi-final at Edgbaston.

It was not just a cricket match, but a highly charged occasion, as only a fixture between England and Australia can be. Batting first Australia got off to a good start with Aaron Finch(68)and captain Steven Smith(56) setting up a nice foundation for the middle-order to capitalize on. There were a few wobbles in the Australian innings who after looking good to cross 300 had to settle for 277 after Travis Head stalled the innings with his precious innings of 71.Mark Wood was the star of the English bowling as he picked up 4 wickets for just 33 runs in his 10 overs.

Stepping out to chase on a cold and wet Edgbaston ground England were rattled as they lost 3 early wickets. A master class from skipper Eoin Morgan (87) and Ben Stokes (102) set up a partnership of 158 to ensure England were in the driver’s seat before play was stopped due to rain. Ben Stokes continued his fine form of the IPL to hit a magnificent century in a pressure situation for England. England was well ahead of the D/L total as play was abandoned due to rain and ended up winning by 40.With this win, England ensured that they topped the group and also knocked out rivals Australia from the tournament. This was Australia’s third washed out game of the tournament who have been unlucky with the rain gods all tournament. Ben Stokes was adjudged man of the match for his sparkling innings.

At the end of a wonderfully vivid game, in which both countries attacked without any attempt at defensiveness in between, England headed into the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy unbeaten and Australia home. England will play in Wednesday’s first semi-final against the runners-up in Group B. The likeliest scenario is that they will play Sri Lanka or Pakistan.Bangladesh will take on the winners of Group B in the second semi-final.

Group A

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