England, Bangladesh in semis
birmingham — Ben Stokes hit a career-best 102 not out and captain Eoin Morgan 87 as England knocked Australia out of the Champions Trophy with a 40-run win over their arch-rivals at Edgbaston on Saturday.
England collapsed to 35 for three chasing 278 for victory before lefthanders Morgan and Stokes changed the course of the game with a fourthwicket partnership of 159.
Stokes’s third one-day international century was his highest score at this level after the all-rounder had twice made 101. Stokes hit two sixes and 13 fours, the last of which completed his third ODI century.
When a second downpour ended the match with England 240 for four off 40.2 overs, the hosts were well ahead of the 205 they needed for a win under the Duckworth- Lewis-Stern method for rain-affected limited overs matches.
World Cup champions Australia had to win this match to join already-qualified England in the semifinals of a tournament featuring the world’s leading eight ODI teams after no result washouts in their previous two Group A fixtures.
But this defeat saw Bangladesh, who beat New Zealand by five wickets in Cardiff on Friday, into the last four instead.
Earlier, Mark Wood and Adil Rashid took four wickets apiece as Australia were held to 277 for nine after losing the toss.
Durham fast bowler Wood returned ODI best figures of four for 33 in his maximum 10 overs, while leg-spinner Rashid’s return of four for 41 was his best against a Test nation at this level.
Travis Head’s unbeaten 71 kept Australia in the game after earlier fifties from opener Aaron Finch (68) and captain Steve Smith (56).
The English will likely play either Pakistan or Sri Lanka, with Bangladesh set for a match against the winner of South Africa-India at The Oval on Sunday.
Since clinching a second straight Champions Trophy title in 2009, the Australians haven’t won any of their six games in the tournament across two editions, held in England and Wales in 2013 and ‘17.
They arrived in Britain this time with their players embroiled in an industrial dispute with governing body Cricket Australia over the terms of a new pay deal. It has been the subject of regular questions over the past week but although it is clearly a major issue in the background, it wasn’t the reason for Saturday’s loss.
Put into bat, Australia was motoring along at 239-4 in the 43rd over when middle-order dangerman Glenn Maxwell (20) swiped a hard, flat shot off paceman Mark Wood that was heading for a six until Roy reached above his head for a brilliant catch.
Teetering next to the boundary edge, Roy threw the ball into the air to avoid carrying it over the foam marker and hopped either side of it before collecting and completing an extraordinary play. England seized control, taking the next four wickets for nine runs off 20 balls as Wood finished with career-best ODI figures of 4-33 and legspinner Adil Rashid claimed 4-41. — AFP, AP