England will face Australia in the Champions Trophy semi-finals after Ricky Ponting's side won a thrilling contest with Pakistan by two wickets on the last ball of the game. Australia seemed to be cruising to victory when 140-2 off 31 overs chasing 206 to win, but they collapsed to 187-8 and it took Nathan Hauritz's single off the final ball of the 50th over to get the winners over the line.
"I chewed all my fingernails off," said Ponting. "It was tough to score quickly out there, the bounce was inconsistent and it spun at the end so we were a little lucky to restrict them to that total. We've finished top of the table, and we have a good understanding of how the conditions are here and we look forward to taking on England."
Pakistan, who will face New Zealand in the other semi-final, struggled to accelerate their run rate past four an over, with Brett Lee bowling a tight spell of 10-0-30-1. Mohammad Yousuf top-scored with 45 off 69 balls, with support from Misbah-ul-Haq, who hit a sprightly 41 from 53, but the previous Group A leaders lost wickets all too consistently, Mitchell Johnson and Shane Watson taking two apiece, to finish on 205-6 from their 50 overs.
The reply got off to a lively start, but Australia lost both openers, Shane Watson for 24 and Tim Paine for 29, in the space of 18 balls to leave them shaking slightly on 59-2 from 11.3 overs. Ponting and Mike Hussey steadied the ship, however, guiding the side to within 66 runs of victory with 19 overs remaining, but Ponting fell to Shoiab Malik for 32 to spark a collapse that almost cost the Australians the win and top place in the group.
Callum Ferguson was bowled by Saeed Ajmal for seven to leave Australia 157-4, but the innings truly began to unravel when Hussey, James Hopes and Cameron White departed in the space of six balls to move the score from 174-4 to 176-7. Mitchell Johnson became Ajmal's second victim with just over four overs remaining, leaving Pakistan just two wickets from victory.
Four runs were required from the final over and singles from the second, fourth and fifth balls off Umar Gul left Australia needing one to win. Hauritz swiped at a wide one, Brett Lee charged through for the bye, and Kamran Akmal missed with his underarm shy at the stumps to set up a meeting of the Ashes rivals in Centurion on Friday.
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