FOW: Warner c Buttler b Broad 9 (17/1), Watson c Cook b Bresnan 24 (47/2),
Hughes lbw b Root 30 (94/3), Voges b Bresnan 15 (127/4), Marsh c Morgan b Anderson 5 (134/5), Wade c Buttler b Anderson 1 (136/6), Bailey c Root b Tredwell 55 (151/7),
Johnson c Morgan b Bopara 8 (175/8), Starc b Anderson 5 (190/9)
England 269 for 6 (Bell 91, Bopara 46*, Trott 43) beat Australia 221 for 9 (Bailey 55, Faulker 54*, Anderson 3-30) by 48 runs
England and Australia were locking horns for the first time this summer and Edgbaston, basking in golden sunshine for its 100th international match, was able to celebrate the start of the sequence with an emphatic England victory. The Champions Trophy tie - or Ashes prelim, if you prefer - fell to England by 48 runs.
Until England took control, it was a cagey, tactical affair - for the neutral perhaps the least enthralling match in the tournament so far.
But who knows, it might be that England have made an impact on the Ashes summer.
Australia had imagined that a powerful statement in the Champions Trophy might be a catalyst, but their performance was limp, their captain Michael Clarke is injured, and their hold on the Champions Trophy - as ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball commentary put it "the last trinket on Australia's mantelpiece" - is now in danger of falling into the fireplace.
For much of the day the Edgbaston crowd was able to soak up the pleasurable sight of two of its own proceeding calmly along, although it was only when victory was achieved that most people were prepared to pronounce that Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, as two Warwickshire batsmen should, had perfectly assessed batting requirements.
Australia's bowling attack sorely lacked a specialist spinner on such a gripping surface and, among the pace bowlers, Mitchell Starc was a disappointment.
When Trott was caught at the wicket for 43 from 56 balls, chasing a wide one delivered around the wicket by the left-armer, Mitchell Starc, England's second-wicket pair had put on 111 in 22 overs and uncertainty hung around the ground about whether their programmed approach, on a day when Alastair Cook's decision to bat first was a straightforward one, would yield the desired outcome.
Bell departed four overs later, his 91 occupying 115 balls, as James Faulkner bowled him with a straight ball which kept a little low, a fact the batsman communicated somewhat theatrically by falling to his knees after his stumps were broken. He has seemed slightly out of sorts in recent months, but this proved to be a match-winning innings of consummate judgment.
Bell's contribution was neat and orderly, studded by occasionally pleasing drives, Trott occupied himself diligently in that self-absorbed way of his, his innings containing a solitary boundary.
He was shaken out of his cocoon of contentment only once when he seemed entirely taken aback to find Australia's keeper, Matthew Wade, raging at him after the pair got in a tangle as Wade chased an inaccurate return. A few minutes later, having contemplated the mix up, he allowed himself a slightly disturbing smile.
England's plan was to take advantage of the last 15 overs, beginning with the batting Powerplay. But batting Powerplays are not often to England's tastes. It is as if they are contrary to the national character, resented for artificially intruding on the normal order of things, about as popular as a wind turbine in a Cotswold village, both having the potential to bring energy but often bringing resentment. Instead, they stalled.
The late-order marauders, Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler, fell cheaply within three balls of each other and it took a judicious 46 not out from 37 balls from Ravi Bopara to heal the breach. The average score at Edgbaston in ODIs was 224 but as the sun blazed down, this was not an average batting day.
Things might have turned out differently if Bell had been run-out without scoring. When Cook played Starc to backward point, David Warner pulled off a diving stop and sprung to his feet to throw down the stumps, with both batsmen at the wicketkeeper's end. Cook was just in his ground and Bell was a yard alongside him, but the ball careered into the leg side and, much kerfuffle later, England had stolen two overthrows.
Australia never got going. David Warner and Shane Watson constitute as destructive an opening pair as exists in one-day cricket, but there was barely a whimper from either as they fell by the 15th over with the scoring rate barely three runs an over.
Warner's feet were fast as he carved at a ball angled across him from Stuart Broad and presented a diving catch to Buttler. Broad almost removed Watson, too, as a leading edge flew beyond Cook's grasp, diving to his left at slip. But Watson soon fell lbw to Tim Bresnan and although Hot Spot later revealed a thin inside edge before the ball struck his pad, he would have been out in any event as the ball arced gently to Cook in the gully.
The balance of England's side gave Australia a chance with fifth-bowling duties to be shared between Ravi Bopara and the callow offspin of Joe Root, the latter with only one ODI wicket to his name. But this was a somewhat abrasive pitch which aided their chances of survival release and Hughes, losing patience, tried to pull Root off a length and was lbw.
The wicket which as good as confirmed England's victory - Mitchell Marsh rattling one into Eoin Morgan's midriff at backward point - also took James Anderson past Darren Gough as England's leading wicket-taker in ODIs. Five balls later, Matthew Wade followed, albeit reluctantly, initially hoping that Hot Spot would not reveal his thin edge, then plotting an escape because the ball might have dropped short of Buttler's gloves, but umpire Dharmasena's decision was upheld.
Bailey's half-century tried to hold Australia together, but he was wading through sand and his desperate attempt to go big against James Tredwell's offspin caused his downfall at long-on.
No Finn, no Swann. It was easy to believe that England were deliberately keeping two of their most potent bowlers out of sight of the Australians ahead of the Investec Ashes series.
England insisted that it was not the case. But they would, wouldn't they?
Swann had a none-too-serious sore back which had not prevented him bowling in the nets; Finn was omitted purely for reasons of form, perhaps influenced by the fact that now he is back on his long run, and comfortable with it, and the last thing England need is any long run, short run confusion ahead of the Ashes.
The Champions Trophy is a valid tournament in itself, not just some sort of Ashes points-scoring contest. That said, when Australia began their minimum of 13 meetings against England this summer with a gentle leg-stump half volley from Starc, which Cook flipped through backward square for four.
The roars of approval from the Eric Hollies Stand possessed a significance that England supporters hoped would last all summer long. By the end of the day they were even more convinced that it would.
25 overs Australia 93 for 2 (Hughes 30*, Bailey 26*) need another 177 runs to beat England 269 for 6 (Bell 91, Bopara 46*, Trott 43)
Australia found the going even tougher than England on an Edgbaston surface which for all its blandness restricted the scoring rate for both top orders.
David Warner and Shane Watson constitute as destructive an opening pair as exists in one-day cricket, but there was barely a whimper from either as they fell by the 15th over with the scoring rate barely three runs an over.
The balance of England's side gave Australia a chance with fifth-bowling duties to be shared between Ravi Bopara and Joe Root, the latter with only one ODI wicket to his name, but by midway they remained 18 runs behind England's innings, as marshalled by Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott, at the same stage.
Warner's feet were motionless as he carved at a ball angled across him from Stuart Broad and presented a diving catch to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler. England could be particularly grateful for the breakthrough because the captain, Alastair Cook, had already dispensed with his slips against Warner in only the sixth over.
Stuart Broad almost removed Watson, too, as a leading edge flew beyond Cook's grasp, diving to his left at slip. But Watson soon fell to Tim Bresnan, falling over a flick to leg and getting a thin inside edge onto his pad that arced gently to Cook in the gully.
There was turn, too, on an abrasive surface for James Tredwell, the Kent offspinner, who chose a good day to deputise for Graeme Swann. With Swann resting a spot of back ache, Tredwell settled into a tight spell on an encouraging surface for slow bowling.
He might even have had a stumping when he turned one past Phil Hughes' outside edge, but it was a tough opportunity which proved to be beyond the ken of Buttler, whose keeping skills remain relatively undeveloped.
England 269/6 (50 overs)
FOW: Cook c Wade b Watson 30 (57/1), Trott c Wade b Starc 43 (168/2),
Bell b Faulkner 91 (189/3), Root c Bailey b McKay 12 (189/4), Morgan b McKay 8 (212/5), Buttler b Faulkner 1 (213/6)
England 269 for 6 (Bell 91, Bopara 46*, Trott 43) v Australia
England and Australia were locking horns for the first time this summer and Edgbaston, basking in golden sunshine for its 100th international match, soaked up the pleasurable sight of two of its own purring along. At least they hoped it would prove to be pleasurable in hindsight. As comfortable as the Warwickshire pair of Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott looked, the jury was out at the interval about whether they had provided a winning platform. James Faulkner, Auastralia's allrounder, placed the par score at 290-300 as he left the field for lunch.
When Trott was caught at the wicket for 43 from 56 balls, chasing a wide one delivered around the wicket by left-armer, Mitchell Starc, England's second-wicket pair had put on 111 in 22 overs and uncertainty hung around the ground about whether their programmed approach, on a day when Alastair Cook's decision to bat first was a straightforward one, would yield the desired outcome.
Bell departed four overs later, his 91 occupying 115 balls, as Faulkner bowled him with a straight ball which kept a little low, which Bell communicated somewhat theatrically by falling to his knees after his stumps were broken.
Bell's half-century was neat and orderly, studded by occasionally-pleasing drives. Trott occupied himself diligently in his self-absorbed way; his innings containing a solitary boundary. When they had both departed, at 189 for 3, England's potent middle-order strokemakers had only 12 overs to wreak havoc.
Instead, England stalled. Eoin Morgan walked across his stumps to whip Clint McKay over square leg and was bowled and Jos Buttler got an inside edge trying to drive James Faulkner which cannoned off his boot into middle stump - two dangermen gone within three balls. It took a judicious 46 not out from 37 balls from Ravi Bopara to heal the breach. The average score at Edgbaston in ODIs is 224 but as the sun blazed down, this was not an average batting day.
No batsmen were better placed than Bell and Trott to assess what constituted a dominant score on their home pitch and, with the ball gripping occasionally, both decided that some degree of inhibition was necessary.
England's policy of gradual accumulation, and setting up the second half of the innings, even continued when Australia introduced the rarely-used slow left-arm of Adam Voges, whose ODI record of one wicket for 159 did not immediately invite disrespect.
By the time Trott fell, Australia's captain, George Bailey, would have been reasonably content to have fiddled through five overs for 26 from his spare bowlers - a combination of Voges and the medium pace of Mitchell Marsh. There had been little encouragement for his bank of pace bowlers - when Clint McKay found Bell's edge on 11, it died well short of second slip - but they remained patient and won the battle of the closing overs. McKay, with 2 for 38, was the pick.
Edgbaston basked in golden sunshine for its 100th international match, and could even soak up the pleasurable sight of two of its own purring along, as England and Australia locked horns for the first time this summer. But as comfortably as the Warwickshire pair of Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott looked, Australia would be equally satisfied by the manner in which they had kept them in check.
Midway through England's innings, there was the sense that the preliminary skirmishes had been completed and the real action was still to come. Bell's half-century was neat and orderly, Jonathan Trott occupied himself diligently in that self-absorbed way of his but there was much need for acceleration for England, who with wickets in hand must have had designs on 300.
England's policy of gradual accumulation, and setting up the second half of the innings, even continued when Australia introduced the rarely-used slow left arm of Adam Voges, whose ODI record of one wicket for 159 did not immediately invite respect.
England lost the wicket of their captain, Alastair Cook, who had made 30 when he was drawn into a drive by Shane Watson and edged to the wicketkeeper, Matthew Wade. Earlier, Bell was fortunate not to be run out without scoring. When Cook played Starc to backward point in the third over, David Warner pulled off a diving stop and sprung to his feet to throw down the stumps, with both batsmen at the wicketkeeper's end. Cook was just in his ground and Bell was a yard alongside him, but the ball careered into the leg side and, much kerfuffle later, England had stolen two overthrows and even had a free hit for a no-ball.
No Finn, no Swann. It was easy to believe that England were deliberately keeping two of their most potent bowlers out of sight of the Australians ahead of the Investec Ashes series. England insisted that it was not the case.
Swann had a none-too-serious sore back and his elbow, after his recent operation was just fine; Finn was omitted purely for reasons of form, perhaps influenced by the fact that now he is back on his long run, and comfortable with it, and the last thing England need is any long run, short run confusion ahead of the Ashes.
The Champions Trophy is a valid tournament in itself, not just some sort of Ashes points-scoring contest. That said, when Australia began their minimum of 13 meetings against England this summer with a gentle leg-stump half volley from Mitchell Starc, which Alastair Cook flipped through backward square for four, the roars of approval from the Eric Hollies Stand possessed a significance that England supporters hoped would last all summer long.
There is always talk in England v Australia summers of the importance of making an early impact: England's tigerish assault upon Australia in a T20 match in Southampton set the tone for the 2005 Ashes series; Steve Harmison's wide to second slip at the start of the Ashes series in Australia a year later was a harbinger of doom.
Mitchell Johnson, getting his heavily tattooed front arm higher than he sometimes has, bowled a solid opening spell, but Starc was disappointing. Bell, who had struggled for form of late, whatever an ODI average around 50 in 2013 would suggest, was grateful for a blissful off-drive against a half-volley and Shane Watson's overpitched loosener was another boundary invitation.
Australia had elected to play three left-arm pace bowlers, and no specialist spinner. But there was little to encourage the bowlers. When Clint McKay found Bell's edge, the ball fell a couple of feet short of second slip.
England won the toss & bat first
England 1 Alastair Cook (capt), 2 Ian Bell, 3 Jonathan Trott, 4 Joe Root, 5 Eoin Morgan, 6 Ravi Bopara, 7 Jos Buttler (wk) 8 Tim Bresnan, 9 Stuart Broad, 10 James Tredwell, 11 James Anderson
Australia 1 Shane Watson, 2 David Warner, 3 Phil Hughes, 4 George Bailey (capt), 5 Adam Voges, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 James Faulkner, 9 Mitchell Johnson, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Clint McKay
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