Australia beat England by 64 runs at Lord's to secure their spot as the first team into the semi-finals.
Australia confirmed their place in the semi-finals of the Cricket World Cup on Tuesday with a comprehensive 64-run victory against England.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Aaron Finch's team lost the toss but managed to score 285 for seven in their 50 overs, with Finch top-scoring with 100.
England lost wickets at regular intervals in their reply and despite a battling 89 from Ben Stokes, were all out for 221 in the 45th over.
England all-rounder Ben Stokes finally gave in to the Australian bowling attack after scoring a heroic 89 runs off 115 balls.
Australia on top as Starc removes Stokes
After the early collapse of the English batting line up, Jos Buttler and Stokes started to rebuild the innings. However, the pacers proved to be too much for the English batsmen. Stoinis removed Buttler for 25 before Woakes came in.
Woakes took over and built a 53 run partnership with Stokes before Stokes was sent back to the pavillion.
England are 177 for six after 36 overs.
England suffered a top-order collapse as they slumped to 53 for four chasing a target of 286 to beat reigning champions Australia in a World Cup match at Lord's on Tuesday.
Jason Behrendorff struck with just the second ball of England's reply, an inswinger bowling struggling opener James Vince for a duck.
Fellow left-arm quick Mitchell Starc then took two wickets for five runs in nine balls.
Behrendorff then came back to scalp the wicket of Jonny Bairstow when the English opener tried to pull him but was caught at mid-wicket.
Test skipper Joe Root was plumb lbw to an inswinger for eight before England captain Eoin Morgan (four) fell into a hooking trap when a top-edge was held safely by Pat Cummins at fine leg.
Victory over their arch-rivals would see Australia, who have lost 10 of their past 11 one-day internationals against England, into the semi-finals.
And while a third defeat in the group stage would not spell the end of England's hopes of reaching the last four from the 10-team round-robin stage, it would set alarm bells ringing.
England's final three group opponents are Australia, India and New Zealand -- teams they have not beaten at a World Cup since 1992. (AFP, London)
Australia manage 285 for seven at the end of 50 overs.
England fought back after another solid opening stand between Aaron Finch and David Warner to restrict Australia to 285 for seven in their Cricket World Cup match at Lord's on Tuesday.
Captain Finch and Warner put on 123 runs - their fifth fifty-partnership in a row - before Warner fell, after being put in to bat on a murky morning at the home of cricket. Finch went on to his second century of the tournament.
Warner is now the leading batsman in the tournament with 500 runs, just four more than Finch in second place.
England, under pressure following their shock loss to Sri Lanka, initially looked nervous in the field. But they bowled tightly in the closing overs to limit the Australians to a manageable score.
Finch and Warner appeared to be in complete control before the latter, on 53, spooned a catch to Joe Root at backward point off Moeen Ali.
After Ben Stokes had bowled Usman Khawaja for 23, Finch reached three figures off 115 balls. But he skied Jofra Archer's next delivery straight into the hands of Chris Woakes at fine leg and Australia lost momentum.
Glenn Maxwell crunched Archer over mid-wicket for six before edging Mark Wood to wicketkeeper Jos Buttler for 12, and Marcus Stoinis was run out for eight following a comical mix-up with Steve Smith.
The former Australia captain made 38 before chipping Woakes to Archer at mid-on, and he left the field to a smattering of boos in reference to his role in last year's ball-tampering scandal.
Pat Cummins edged Woakes to Buttler for one and although Alex Carey pierced the field with a few crisp strokes to finish unbeaten on 38, the Australians may be disappointed with their score as they bid for a sixth win of the tournament.
An Australian victory would virtually secure their place in the semi-finals, and if England lose they might need to beat India and New Zealand in their last two group games to be sure of making the last four.
Aaron Finch scored a century and got himself caught at fine leg in the next ball. [AJ Finch c Woakes b Archer 100 (116b 11x4 2x6) SR: 86.20]
A high short ball, he was sucked into hooking, it was high and outside his eyeline, he got a top edge that flew to fine leg and Woakes, after misfielding to concede his hundred, hung on to the catch. Big blow that for England.
Asutralia had a strong start as both Aaron Finch and David Warner scored a 100 and 53 respectively.
However, Warner was the first to go as he got a bit of extra kick outside off, and Root at backward point snaffled a llimp uppish punch off the back foot.
Usman Khuwaja scored a 23 off 29 balls as he was bowled out by Ben Stokes before the departure of Finch.
Australia scored 190 for the loss of three wickets at the end of 36 overs. England's patience paid off and they haven't bowled that bad.
David Warner and Aaron Finch have started in fine fashion at Lord’s against England after being sent into bat by Eoin Morgan. The overcast conditions led England to bowl first and let the likes of Jofra Archer and Mark Wood run amok against the Australian top-order with a somewhat frail middle-order in the offing.
Australia’s opening duo of Finch and Warner have so far poured cold water on those plans as they featured in a century partnership with both batsmen hitting fifties. Finch took his chances and survived an England review and also a dropped chance, albeit off a pretty difficult chance at point.
England ask Australia to bat at overcast Lord's
England skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and asked Australia to bat first in today's marquee fixture of the World Cup at Lord's.
Overnight rain and overcast conditions prompted to make the decision for England, who go with an unchanged XI, with fast-bowler Jofra Archer passing a fitness test early in the morning.
Australia make two changes, with Jason Behrendorff replacing Nathan Coulter-Nile and Nathan Lyon getting a game in place of Adam Zampa.
Playing XIs:
England: 1 Jonny Bairstow, 2 James Vince, 3 Joe Root, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jos Buttler (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Chris Woakes, 9 Adil Rashid, 10 Jofra Archer, 11 Mark Wood
Australia: 1 Aaron Finch (capt), 2 David Warner, 3 Usman Khawaja, 4 Steven Smith, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Alex Carey (wk), 8 Jason Behrendorff, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Nathan Lyon
Australia come into this game with an eye on the semifinals, having bagged 10 points from six matches. The much-fancied and top-ranked England, however, find themselves in a bit of a pickle with eight points from six matches, with at least three sub-continent teams breathing heavily down their neck.
Those three teams -- namely Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, will be eager to pounce on a slip from the hosts today.
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