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Aussies take Carlton and United Series trophy

MELBOURNE, Australia, Feb 13 - Australia inflicted a humiliating defeat on England, beating them by a massive margin of 162 in the second best-of-three finals to carry away the Carlton and United Trophy here today.

Chasing a big Aussie score of 272 for 6, England collapsed pathetically to be bundled out for 110. At one stage when England were 8 for 88, it looked as though they will be dismissed for their lowest score in one-day cricket which was 93. But helped by the tailenders they passed that dreaded score to finally make 110.

The way the England batsmen went chasing victory was sad to see. It was a bating effort they will soon want to forget and not repeat.

Three of their batsmen Greame Hick, Nasser Hussain and Neil Fairbrother went for ducks and with that was buried any chances they had of making an impressive finish to their long tour of Australia.

Once again the Aussies underlined their superiority in this type of game and showed that they will be strong contenders for the World Cup. They were led admirably by Shane Warne and their bowlers McGarth, Dale Julian responded with two wickets each while Warne, by example bagged 3 wickets. Australia pocketed A$ 100 thousand as winners and England A$ 50 thousand. Greame Hick and Glen McGrath were the 'men of the series', while Darren Lehmann was the 'Player of the match'.

Aussies 2-nil

A crowd of 20,413 cheered lustily when Warne was awarded the trophy. The third final will not be needed. Australia win the series 2-0.

This second game was abandoned on the first day and was played on the reserve day. The way it poured after the game was abandoned and continued through the night and early morning looked as though there would be no play today too.

But the rains stopped and wonderful work by the groundstaff saw the game to a delayed start by 15 minutes and Shane Warne won the toss and decided to give his side first lease. As the game progressed it was evident that the rains or the sweating under the covers had not affected the wicket and the batsmen had no difficulty in timing and executing their shots. The outfield too was reasonably fast.

Australia lost an early wicket that of Mark Waugh. But a good stand between Adam Gilchrist 52 and Ricky Ponting 37 (80 for the second wicket) set the stage for an assault by the latter batsmen to give Australia a formidable score of 272 for 5.

Gilchrist was again in the runs slamming his runs in 64 balls with 6 fours. He got his runs square of the wicket and in the midwicket region. After Ponting went for 37 in 43 balls, Darren Lehmann who top scored with 71 made in 75 balls and Damien Martyn 52 in 70 balls added 112 for the fourth wicket.

Controlled innings

Lehmann who was disappointed that he was not in the squad to the Caribbean with the Australian team, smashed the ball all round the ground and the Aussie selectors would sure have been embarrassed. It was a controlled innings by the left hander whose timing was excellent.

Martyn who has had a good one-day series too, showed that he has finally arrived and what an innings he played. His driving on both sides of the wicket was eye-catching. Gilchrist, Lehmann and Martyn were given standing ovations they walked back to the pavilion.

At the closing stages of the innings, Shane Lee exploded in the final over hitting Mullally for two massive sixes over midwicket that helped swell the Aussie total.

The England bowlers were off line and to add to their woes their fieldings was pathetic with Adam Hollioak and Graeme Hick dropping 'sitter' catches. It was apparent that the English players were looking jaded after playing here for nearly four months.

Darren Gough was always a trier as he usually is, but did not receive support from the fielders. At the end of the game, the spectators lit fireworks and danced in delight.