Australia eyes successive final in Champions Trophy

Having sneaked into the semi-finals with a last-ball victory over Pakistan, Australia will have to plug their batting loopholes when they take on England in the first semi-final of the Champions Trophy in Centurion.

Chasing 206 against Pakistan on Wednesday, Australia's middle order collapsed from a comfortable position. Skipper Ricky Ponting will have to ensure his men do not repeat the same mistakes.

Australia had recently registered a convincing 6-1 victory over England in the ODI series in England and Ponting will hope his team draws inspiration from that series and come up with a similar performance.

"We had a very good series against England over there but its different conditions here and I think they are playing really good cricket. We have to make sure we play well in the next match on Friday," said Ponting.

On paper, Australia does not seem to have any chink but the match against Pakistan showed their vulnerability to quality bowling, especially at the end overs.

Australia's top order has fired in unison with Tim Paine, Ponting and Mike Hussey leading the way for the team. However, opener Shane Watson's poor form will be cause for worry.

Also, the absence of middle order mainstay Michael Clarke, out of the tournament because of a back injury, is likely to hurt the Australians. Clarke's absence will give a chance to David Hussey to make himself counted and claim his spot back in the squad, especially with the ODI series against India around the corner.

Among the bowlers, Mitchell Johnson, Watson and comeback man Brett Lee have troubled opponents with their swing and pace, and in Nathan Hauritz they have a crafty spinner.

England, on the other hand, had an unbeaten run before New Zealand spoilt their party in their last match. Although skipper Andrew Strauss had blamed the bad pitch for the debacle, he will have to ensure their batting doesn't crumble again against the Aussies.

Paul Collingwood and Owais Shah are the leading run scorers for England but skipper Strauss himself is not among the runs. However, Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan have showed enough spark.

Among the bowlers, Stuart Broad is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament for England with 10 wickets, while James Anderson too is among the wickets with seven scalps.

However, England lacks a quality spinner, as Graham Swann has so far looked a shadow of himself and skipper Strauss will hope he comes good, especially if the centurion track gets slow and starts turning.

Teams

Australia: Ricky Ponting (c), David Hussey, Callum Ferguson, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, James Hopes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Brett Lee, Tim Paine, Peter Siddle, Adam Voges, Shane Watson, Cameron White, Brad Haddin, Doug Bollinger.

England: Andrew Strauss (c), Ravi Bopara, Joe Denly, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood, Eoin Morgan, Luke Wright,  Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Tim Bresnan, Graham Onions.