Damien Martyn's 65 off 91 balls was the top score for Australia

They were looking to complete a double after winning last year's World Cup in South Africa but a total of 259-9 was not good enough.

"We were certainly outplayed today. They bowled well and restricted us to a total I thought was 20 or 30 short.

"They batted beautifully and good luck to them in the final," said Ponting.

The Champions Trophy is the one major trophy Australia have never managed to win despite dominating world cricket in recent years.

England post-match reaction

"We've got a bit of a jinx on us playing in this tournament," Ponting joked.

"Most of our batsmen got off to good starts and didn't go on to get a good score - I was one of those.

England skipper Michael Vaughan runs out Andrew Symonds

"It's a bit unusual for us. We pride ourselves on our partnerships with our batting and they weren't there today. At the end of the day, that's probably cost us."

England reached 262-4 with 21 balls to spare to end a run of 14 successive one-day defeats by Australia.

"It was always going to come to an end at some stage. We were hoping it wasn't today but full credit to England. I can't take anything away from them, they were very good today."

Australia will now focus on their forthcoming tour to India, although that could be in doubt because of a dispute over TV rights.

"It's always a challenging place for anybody to tour.

"We had a great tour of India last time - three of the best test matches I've ever played in.

"It's going to be a huge series," Ponting added.