There was a time when it looked as if England would break their duck and register the first win of their ill-fated Australian tour by beating Australia A under the Sydney lights. However, the fall of their last six wickets for 32 runs in 14 overs scuppered any chance they might have had of a morale-boosting victory.

Australia A's total of 205 for nine in their fifty overs was within England's sights when their reply stood at 110 for three with 23 overs left, but the worrying collapse left them 24 runs short of the target. After losing five wickets for 18 against New South Wales on Friday, these are worrying times for the tourists' management with only one match to go before the international triangular tournament begins next Friday.

Some encouragement was to be seen in the field, where England did well to restrict the home side to a modest total. Captain Justin Langer showed his class and experience to top score with 62 from 103 balls, and the prolific Mike Hussey weighed in with a valuable 44 not out from 47 balls at the end of the innings, without once reaching the boundary.

Langer was on only 12 when he was dropped by Robert Key at slip off Andrew Flintoff, and this after James Kirtley had dismissed his opening partner, Jimmy Maher, with his seventh ball. An inside edge ballooned up off Maher's pad to be well-caught by Craig White diving forward in the gully.

Several of the home batsmen got a start before they fell to a combination of good fielding and tight, disciplined bowling. Greg Blewett fell for 23 to a stunning catch by Nick Knight at backward point high above his head. That was off Kabir Ali, who then suffered as Michael Clarke took a liking to his bowling and he was withdrawn from the attack after two over had cost 25.

Clarke was out for 25, bowled by the excellent Ronnie Irani who finished with three for 30 from his ten overs, including another screamer held by Knight at slip to dismiss Andrew Symonds. Ian Blackwell again impressed with one for 24 from his ten overs of left-arm spin.

Ryan Campbell chipped in with 21 at the end of the innings, but England would have been more than satisfied with what was probably their best display in the field on the tour so far. However, they could not match that standard with the bat.

White was promoted to open the innings in the place of resting Marcus Trescothick, but he was involved in a running mix-up with Knight and England were three for one after two overs.

Irani led the fight back with 33 from 22 balls as he and Knight put on 56 in nine overs for the second wicket. Irani was lbw to the first ball bowled by Ashley Noffke and, in his next over, Noffke struck again when Knight was caught behind cutting.

Nasser Hussain and Owais Shah got the innings back on course with a 38-run partnership that was progressing well until the captain was out leg before when sweeping the left-arm spin of Brad Hogg for 33.

Despite a fighting 25 from Shah who was caught behind pulling Brad Williams, the rest of the order simply melted away. Blackwell was run out, Key caught in the deep and Flintoff edged an intended drive to the wicket-keeper.

Kabir Ali featured in a ninth wicket partnership with Alec Stewart, scoring 16 from the 20 balls he faced, but Kirtley could only prolong the innings by one over before he was bowled by Hogg to leave Stewart stranded on six from 27 balls after going in at number nine.

Australia A captain Langer commented on England's plight after the match. "They're obviously under pressure," he said. "I always think that winning or making runs or taking wickets or losing is a habit and they've gotten out of the habit of winning.

"It's all about momentum and England don't seem to be able to get that momentum, which is great for Australian cricket.

"I've always maintained they've got some very good players, experienced players and they're playing well in patches so what they need to find is the habit of winning and doing the basics right.

"It's not rocket science. One-day cricket is a funny game, they only need to win a couple of games and the momentum might start building."

England's Knight summed it all up from the tourists' point of view. "No getting away from it - that's a game we should have won.

"There are 16 blokes in that dressing room desperate to win and tonight was a missed opportunity. "It's not fun when you keep losing."

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