Ben Stokes hit 102 off 109 balls, to eliminate Australia from the Champions Trophy and send Bangladesh into the semis.
A mouthwatering encounter awaited at Edgbaston, as cricket’s biggest rivalry had the final say on which sides from Group A would progress to the semi-finals.
After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, England got off to a flyer. They dismissed David Warner on 21 and proceeded to take wickets consistently just as the game was threatening to run away from them.
Aaron Finch’s 64-ball 68 and Steve Smith’s 56 off 78 balls triggered a decent Australia recovery, but it was Travis Head (71 off 64 balls) who dragged his side to 277-9, after the Aussies lost five wickets for 15 runs between the 43rd and 47th over.
Mark Wood (4-33) and Adil Rashid (4-41) were lethal during that period, taking two and three wickets respectively, as Australia posted a target of 278.
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England, who have already guaranteed their semi-final spot, got off to a treacherous start, losing both their openers with only six runs on the board.
Australia’s lethal opening pair, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, took a wicket apiece to give the visitors the perfect opening two overs.
This left a mountain to climb for captain Eoin Morgan, who lost the in-form Joe Root (15) in the sixth over, as England found themselves backpedalling on 35-3.
After an uninterrupted first innings, rain once again halted play at Edgbaston, as the Birmingham ground continued to keep its record of having every match at the 2017 Champions Trophy affected by rain.
Ben Stokes and Morgan put on a magnificent partnership after the break. The pair struck a 159-run partnership to take England to 195, before Morgan was caught ball-watching and was run out for an 81-ball 87 (eight overs, five sixes).
Despite the loss of their skipper, England charged forward through Stokes and Jos Buttler (29). Stokes finally achieved a milestone knock in the tournament, after missing out on a 10th career half-century by two runs against New Zealand.
The IPL’s most expensive foreign player reached his third ODI 100 in 108 balls (13 fours and two sixes) and steered England to 240-4 (40.2 overs), before the rain came back to haunt Australia.
Despite the rain delay, England were 40 runs ahead of the DLS par score as they knocked Australia out of the tournament and finished with three wins out of three in Group A.
The result means that Australia has been knocked out, while Bangladesh have claimed a semi-final spot.
Photo: Stu Forster/Getty Images
