ENGLAND VS AUSTRALIA CHAMPIONS TROPHY SEMI-FINAL TIPS

It's a familiar fixture all around tomorrow as England are set to take on Ricky Ponting's Australian side for a berth in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy. The Aussies are listed at 4/7 with England available at an 11/8 price. Not bad odds on England if you ask me, and I think that the pitch at Centurion could sway things into Englands favour- but their openers simply must perform. No more excuses from the English side, who were unfortunate against New Zealand having to bat first. Outside of the outright odds, the bookies don't seem to see too much between the sides performance-wise with highest opening partnership and the fall of first wicket selections all listed at 5/6. The only real difference is the Highest 1st 15 overs total where the Aussies are 8/11 and England are at evens. The draw there pays out at 33/1. Things are pretty close in the most sixes market with Australia and evens and England at 6/5- I think Owais Shah has shortened England's odds here, ditto Paul Collingwood. I think you'd want to back the chasing team on this one. Top Australian Batsman is likely to be Ricky Ponting according to William Hill. Ponting is listed at 11/4 with Shane Watson and Michael Hussey just behind at 4/1. Tim Paine is at 9/2 and then the odds take a bit of a jump to Cameron White and Callum Ferguson at 7/1. Andrew Strauss just gets the nod ahead of Owais Shah by a small margin- Strauss at 3/1, Shah at 4/1. I think Andrew Strauss really needs to put together a captain's innings and will want to stride towards a quick opening 50. If he puts in a good total and can properly anchor England to their first 150 points or so, they will be in supremely good shape. Joe Denly and Paul Collingwood are also tied with Shah at 4/1. Eoin Morgan is able to put together a good knock if he gets going and he's alongside Matt Prior at 6/1. If you're looking for a longer shot, try Ravi Bopara at 7/1. Brett Lee is favoured to be top Aussie bowler at 5/2, this is a pretty safe bet unless the surface and conditions call for spin. Mitchell Johnson is at 11/4 and Nathan Hauritz carries a 4/1 price. Ben Hilfenhaus is at 5/1 while Peter Siddle sits at 9/2. James Anderson is at 5/2 for England and Graeme Swann also carries a short price at 7/2. Stuart Broad is out of the running with a buttock strain. Graham Onions enters the side and is listed at 9/2 alongside Ryan Sidebottom. Adil Rashid should also factor into the equation and he's listed at 6/1. They also have plenty of Match betting options between bowlers and batsmen at William Hill and the live betting should be as exciting as always. I think the Aussies are the rightful favourites, but England have proven that when they play their best they can conquer any of the top ODI sides in the world. I think that really says something and I'm going to be backing England to make the final on a patriotic bet. I think that even if they lose to Australia they leave the tournament with their heads held high- having kept the two favourite sides from progressing to the tournament's latter stages.