High: 23°C | Low: 13°C		Wind: E at 8 km/h, Humidity: 36%
Match	Australia v England	-	Date	12th January, 2007
Match Type	Commonwealth Bank ODI Series	-	Umpires	IL Howell (South Africa) and SJA Taufel
Toss	England	-	Decision	Bat
Result	Australia Won by 8 Wickets	-	Venue	MCG Melbourne - Scorecard

Following a heavy Twenty/20 defeat England’s tour went from bad to worse in more ways than one today. England not only lost the game by a crushing eight wickets but they also lost key batsman Kevin Pietersen for four weeks with a rib injury.

England won the toss and elected to bat on a lovely wicket, Pietersen the pick of the batsmen with a well crafted 82 before he fell to a Symonds catch in the deep not long after being struck in the rib cage by Glenn McGrath.

Strauss was the first casualty when Nathan Bracken took the first of three wickets in the innings combining with Hayden fielding at first slip restricting England to 1 for 20. Michael Vaughan playing in his first one day international for 18 months looked in good touch with a collection of attractive back-foot drives but he failed to build after a positive start  and fell for 26 runs, Bracken’s second victim.

Ian Bell who began the tour with so much promise had a lucky escape when Gilchrist dropped the number three first ball but he failed to make Australia pay, falling for just 15 runs. Pietersen, Collingwood and Flintoff all contributed to take the score on to 168 for the fourth wicket when Collingwood became McGrath’s first victim. It was a subdued innings by the all rounder taking 70 balls to reach 43, his first of only two boundaries taking 46 balls.

Pietersen launched an aggressive attack, White on the receiving end going for three sixes of leg-spinner Cameron White. However he was soon checked by veteran McGrath when he walked down the pitch to force a change in the seamers steady line and length. He played around the delivery and the ball went clambering into his ribs causing the batsman to fall to the ground as if someone had shot him. The team physio came on and managed to dull the pain but it was evident Pietersen was struggling. Despite his decision to continue he fell not long after.

Flintoff played a 38 ball cameo for his 47 runs but inevitably England were at least 40 runs short on a very good batting strip.

In reply Flintoff failed miserably with the ball leaking 48 runs of just six overs that included 11 wides in his very first over. He was pummelled for a massive six over long on by Gilchrist and never found his length in his short spell.

Gilchrist was ruthless and together with Hayden put on 101 for the first wicket in 93 balls; Hayden stumped for 28 off Panesar’s bowling. Twelve runs later Gilchrist edged behind for 60 off 61 balls including seven fours and one six.

Ponting and Clarke put on an undefeated partnership of 133 to subject England to their eighth defeat in 11 matches in front of a crowd of over 78,000. Both Ponting (82) and Clarke (57) scored half centuries in a magnificent third wicket partnership and despite Vaughan’s return as captain England failed to make inroads into a thoroughly professional outfit. Ponting’s knock included eight fours and has certainly cemented his place as the best batsman in world cricket today.

It’s difficult to know where England go from here after being outplayed and outclassed. Pietersen’s injury will also leave a void unlikely to be filled by anyone, certainly of his standard in the short term, only time will tell if he will be fit for the World Cup but early indications are positive. England’s next game is on Tuesday in Hobart against a competitive New Zealand squad and although they face a new challenge after an Australian summer the results are likely to remain constant.