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First Semifinal; Australia v England

Old foes to fight it out

CRICiNFO, Centurion
It's battle rejoined. Just in case there hadn't been enough of England facing
Australia in recent months, the semifinal of the Champions Trophy has thrown together a rematch. There shouldn't be much these two sides don’t know about each other, but the intrigue of this meeting is that it's a straight knockout. Most expected Australia to be here, but few imagined England would still be in the tournament.
For a while it looked as though Australia would blow their chance of progressing as the batting came to a screeching halt in their chase against
Pakistan. However, Brett Lee and Nathan Hauritz did just enough - Australia were through when they levelled scores off the penultimate bail - and another meeting with the old enemy was an added bonus.
Australia will bring with them memories of the 6-1 win in the recent one-day series, while England will say that result doesn’t matter anymore. "We thrashed them the last time we played them," said Graeme Swann, England’s team joker. The truth, as is often the case, lies somewhere in the middle. Australia clearly have the upper hand in recent contests, but England's resurgence since arriving in South Africa means they have a good chance of extracting revenge.
England may secretly be relieved that Australia scrambled the final bye, which
meant they wouldn't have to face Pakistan's mixture of spin and reverse swing on a slow, wearing Centurion pitch. Not that Australia's attack will be easy, but at least there won't be any of the unknown. In fact, it's just the opposite. The teams probably know each other a little too well at the moment.
England have concerns over Stuart Broad, who has a torn buttock muscle. He went for a scan and appeared in discomfort while the team trained in Centurion. If he misses out it will probably mean a recall for Graham Onions, but the loss of Broad's batting could allow Adil Rashid into the mix, especially given the spin-friendly conditions. Rashid may come into the permutations anyway as a replacement FROM PAGE 17 for Luke Wright. Meanwhile, Matt Prior took part in training but is still feeling the effects of his virus. Steven Davies remains on stand-by and England have ICC permission to draft him in as a replacement.
David Hussey has been called into the squad, but it would be asking a lot for him to play straight away. Australia are likely to retain the balance they used against Pakistan and will know what to expect from conditions.
It was Graeme Swann who enabled England to save face in the home series when he took 5 for 28 at Chester-le-Street and this could be the match where he comes into his own in this event. So far England's quicks have done the damage, but if the Australia-Pakistan match is any indication spin is going to play a key role. Swann relishes the battle and has had plenty of success in recent months while Australia continue to have a dodgy record against off-spin. Brett Lee was outstanding during the series in England where he hit top speed and swung both the old and new ball. He will feel he has a hold over the English top order and provides Ricky Ponting with a strike weapon at any stage of the innings. Reverse swing was evident in the Pakistan match and if there's one bowler capable of exploiting the movement it is Lee.
TEAMS
ENGLAND (probable): Andrew Strauss (captain), Joe Denly, Owais Shah, Paul Collingwood. Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior, Luke Wright, Stuart Broad. Graeme Swann, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson.
AUSTRALIA (probable): Shane Watson. Tim Paine. Ricky Ponting (captain). Michael Hussey, Callum Ferguson. Cameron White, James Hopes, Mitchell Johnson. Brett Lee, Nathan Hauritz, Peter Siddle.