Aussies back at No.1

Australia is back atop the one-day tree and only needs to defeat a 'frail' and downtrodden England on Sunday to stay there ahead of the Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The crushing 111-run victory saw Australia draw level with South Africa in the ODI rankings but it can claim outright honours by completing an unprecedented seven-nil clean sweep in Chester-le-Street.

Australia is likely to field a full-strength side after winning on Thursday without vice-captain Michael Clarke and paceman Mitchell Johnson.

England's latest failure, described by Andrew Strauss as a 'horror show', saw the captain jeered during the post-match celebration less than four weeks after leading his country to Ashes glory.

Wicketkeeper Tim Paine, playing in the absence of the injured Brad Haddin, was the architect for the win, claiming the man-of-the-match award with his 111.

"I thought that he had got some good starts and hadn't fully capitalised but it was great to see him go on," said Australia skipper Ricky Ponting.

"As a team we're doing everything right."

England, however, is doing everything wrong.

An error-riddled performance in the field on Tuesday was followed by a farcical display with the bat two days later.

Ravi Bopara was the chief culprit, running out Matt Prior then himself in the space of six balls. Both were caught short by direct hits by a red-hot Ponting.

A shattered Strauss cut a disconsolate figure as he sought to explain England's sixth successive defeat in the series.

He said he could understand why the crowd was so angry after another very poor performance.

"It's been something that's been building over the course of the six games we've played," he said.

"It's been damaging for the one-day unit because confidence has become increasingly frail."

"I'm not going to sit here and make any excuses. What we have shown so far in this series hasn't been good enough, and far from it. As a group of players and as individuals we need to stand up and show some character now. It's as simple as that."