Mark Waugh is bowled by Cork

Darren Gough had clean bowled Andrew Symonds with 39 runs still needed to give England a chance.

Alan Mullally ran out Ponting after bowling Damien Martyn to stop the Australians in their tracks.

Man-of-the-match Ponting's devastating 102 had carried Australia inexorably towards their target - despite the run-rate creeping up past seven an over.

Ponting and Martyn rescued their side after Cork had bowled Mark Waugh for 46.

They found the boundary with regularity as England lost their early control.

Darren Gough had Adam Gilchrist caught by Owais Shah at midwicket for just four with the score on 12, but the Aussies soon grabbed the initiative.

Ponting in particular was dismissive of the England attack, hitting over the top with abandon as he reached his ninth one-day international ton.

Becalmed

A late flurry of runs from debutant Shah and Ben Hollioake had boosted England's total at the end of their 50 overs.

Shah hit 28 from 24 balls in partnership with Hollioake (37 off 26) after England had been becalmed with 10 overs to go.

Stewart went for 25 and Nick Knight for a thrilling 84 as Australia pegged England back.

Stewart was unlucky to be given lbw to Brett Lee while Knight fell to a sensational catch from Shane Warne off the same bowler.

But replays showed that the paceman had clearly no-balled.

An explosive partnership between Marcus Trescothick and Knight threatened a huge score.

But after Trescothick was run out for 69 from 79 balls, England found it difficult to pick up the pace.

Knight hits out on his way to a half-century

The pair had launched an exhilarating assault on the Australian bowlers after a slow start before a mix-up saw the opener run-out.

The left-handers had dominated the bowling, with the century partnership coming from just 106 balls.

Earlier, Glenn McGrath had Ally Brown caught behind for just eight as Australia pinned England down early on.

Brown slashed outside the off stump after struggling for runs against McGrath and Brett Lee.

The England batsman initially found runs hard to come by as the tourists' bowlers maintained tight control.

But at the 10-over mark was reached, Trescothick and Knight picked up the pace to the delight of the 15,000 crowd.

Teams

England
Alec Stewart (capt), Marcus Trescothick, Alistair Brown, Nick Knight, Owais Shah, Ben Hollioake, Mark Ealham, Robert Croft, Dominic Cork, Darren Gough, Alan Mullally.

Australia
Steve Waugh (capt), Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting, Damien Martyn, Matthew Hayden, Ian Harvey, Andrew Symonds, Shane Warne, Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath.