England’s hopes of qualifying for the Cricket World Cup semi-finals were dealt a blow with defeat against Australia at Lord’s.
Australia batted first after losing the toss and posted 285 for seven with the captain, Aaron Finch, scoring exactly 100. The defending champions then set about destroying England’s batting, Jason Behrendorff’s yorker dismissing James Vince with the second ball of the innings.
Mitchell Starc took up the battle from the other end, bowling with pace and precision to send back Joe Root and the captain, Eoin Morgan, in successive overs.
Root was pinned lbw for eight, a fast, full delivery thumping him so cleanly in front of the stumps that he barely considered asking for a review despite his importance to the cause.
Morgan then suffered a dreadful lapse in judgment, taking on Starc’s short ball but erring in the execution as he fed Pat Cummins a simple catch at fine leg. At 26 for three England were threatening to combust.
Jonny Bairstow began the task of resetting things but after making his way to 27 he replicated Morgan’s mistake, pulling a steepler from Behrendorff but only succeeding in picking out Cummins on the ropes.
Jos Buttler was next to fall, for 25, and the home side’s chances of victory started to fade.
Ben Stokes offered dogged resistance with 89 before he was clean bowled by Starc. Stokes dropped then kicked away his bat, disgusted with himself, before collecting his gear and trudging off.
That put England on 177 for six from 37 overs and sliding towards defeat, with Behrendorff enjoying figures of five for 44. Chris Woakes (26) and Adil Rashid (last out, 25) were the only others into double figures.
England had earlier dragged Australia back from an imposing foundation of 173 for one in the 32nd over, rallying to keep the score below 300.
Steve Smith and David Warner were predictably booed to and from the crease but it was Finch who did the most damage, batting through 35 overs for his second ton of the tournament.
• Vic Marks’s full match report will appear here shortly