England moved closer to World Cup elimination as Australia brushed them aside in their relentless pursuit of a third successive title. Despite Kevin Pietersen breaking England's century duck for the tournament, their mid-range total of 247 was not enough to challenge Australia and they breezed to a convincing seven wickets victory with 16 balls remaining.

It was Australia's 24th successive World Cup victory, stretching back to 1999, and underlined the massive gulf in class between the two sides battling for a place in the last four.

Led by captain Ricky Ponting's superb 86 from 106 balls, Australia never lost confidence in their ability to surpass England's total despite the run-rate reaching nearly six an over at one stage. But England were ponderous in the field, lacked belief with the ball and invention when they batted, and looked anything but potential semi-finalists.

England could and should have set a far more challenging target having overcome their traditional troubles at the top of the order with Pietersen and Ian Bell guiding them to 163 for two with 20 overs remaining.

It was a platform their lower order ought to have exploited but instead they lost three wickets for 15 runs inside six overs, were forced to rebuild and only three batsmen reached double figures before they were dismissed with a ball remaining.