SCORE UPDATE
End of Match
Australia 177-9 in 46.4 Overs
Australia win by one wicket
It was a fascinating game between these two arch rivals. Batting first England only managed to score 176. A disappointing performance by Vaughan and his team, with Strauss top scoring with 34, followed by Ian Blackwell 32. Cameron White picked up three wickets while Andy Bichel and Andrew Symonds each picked up a couple. In reply Australia lost Gilchrist early for 24. After that Ponting and Hayden had taken Australia to a comfortable position before Ponting was dismissed by Blackwell. This sparked an England comeback and an Australian collapse, who then lost Hayden, Clarke, Symonds, and Martyn within no time. Soon Australia found themselves at 113-6 after being 80-1 at one stage. However, Ian Harvey and Cameron White took the Aussies past 150, before both of them were dismissed in quick succession. Australia still needed 20 odd runs to win, when Andy Bichel was also dismissed. It was no down to the last two, Gillespie and Lee, who slowly and steadily and under extreme pressure moved towards the target. Ian Blackwell had two close shouts for LBW, but both were turned down by umpire David Shepherd. Then Gillespie hit a four over sqraure leg to level the scores, before taking a single on the next delivery to win the match for the Aussies. Australia therefore winning at the end, by just one wicket, and 20 balls to spare. England will have to happy with the single bonus point. However Michael Vaughan praised his teams effort.
"It was always going to be difficult to defend such a small score, but we really came very close to pulling out a sensational victory. It was a good performance by our bowlers and fielders."
Scorecard
