BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom: Ian Bell starred as England drew first blood in a marathon sequence of matches against Australia with a 48-run victory over the title-holders in their Champions Trophy opener at Edgbaston yesterday.
Bell made 91 on his Warwickshire home ground, to the delight of a capacity 25,000 crowd, as England posted 269 for six after captain Alastair Cook won the toss.
Bell also shared a second-wicket stand of 111 with county colleague Jonathan Trott (43) in the first of at least 26 matches, including the upcoming Ashes series in England, across all formats against arch-rivals Australia between now and February 2.
Australia pegged England back before an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 56 between Ravi Bopara (46 not out) and Tim Bresnan (19 not out) bolstered England’s total.
However, a target of 270 proved beyond an Australia side still without captain Michael Clarke, following the recurrence of the star batsman’s longstanding back injury.
During Australia’s 221 for nine, spearhead seamer James Anderson (three for 30) became England’s outright most successful one-day international (ODI) bowler, taking the one wicket he needed to surpass the record of 234 wickets he’d shared with Darren Gough.
Australia stand-in skipper George Bailey made 55 as they at least put the embarrassment of their 65 all out in Tuesday’s warm-up defeat by India behind them.
However, this loss left Australia -- bidding for a third straight Champions Trophy title -- with a mountain to climb if they were to qualify for the semi-finals out of a Group A also featuring New Zealand and Sri Lanka, who meet in Cardiff today.
“We were 180-2, we should have got 300...But I thought 270 was always going to be enough,” said Cook, whose side came into this match on he back of a 2-1 ODI series defeat by New Zealand, although they beat the Black Caps in Nottingham on Wednesday.
“Jimmy (Anderson) is a great bowler, he just keeps getting better and better and we are lucky to have him,” Cook said after the match.
Man-of-the-match Bell, an opener in this format, added: “I was pleased to give us a good platform. It’s nice to play some shots at the top of the order.”
Meanwhile Bailey said Australia’s batting had been the key to this loss.
“We couldn’t get any momentum and well done to England they restricted us well,” Bailey said. AFP
