CENTURION - Defending champions Australia thrashed England by 9 wickets in the first semi-final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 to advance into the final here on Friday at Supper Sports Park. Shining tons, Shane Watson (136) and Ricky Ponting (111) were the superb contribution in the Kangaroos victory. English captain decided to bat first after winning the toss but his top batsmen failed to impress with their batting, as England lost their six wickets at 101. However, duo of English players Tim Bresnan (80) and Wright (48) saved the blushes of their team by aggregating 107 runs for the 7th wicket partnership. Tim faced 76 and Wright 68 balls. Later, the classic batting by Shane Watson and Ricky Ponting eased defending champions Australia into the ICC Champions Trophy final. Both right-handed pair, whose unbeaten 252-run alliance was Australias highest for the second wicket in one-day internationals, each struck commanding centuries to see off England by nine wickets with 49 balls to spare. Skipper Ricky Pontings 111 not out was his 28th one-day international hundred, and he became the first Australian to register 12,000 runs in the process. Also, he became the top-scorer of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 international cricket showpiece. He hit 12 boundaries and solitary six and faced 115 balls during his remarkable show. Meanwhile, Shane Watson (136) displayed an excellent all-round performance and amused the spectators by hitting clattering strokes. He hit massive seven 6s and ten 4s in a 132 balls innings. Both the batsmen gathered 252 runs for the second wicket stand at Supper Sports Park. Although Graham Onions removed Tim Paine with his third ball, mistakes elsewhere spoke of nervousness, Eoin Morgan conceded four overthrows with a wild return to Steven Davies, making his one-day international debut, while Onions was penalised with wide balls for successive bouncers. Scoreboard ENGLAND AJ Strauss c Hopes b Siddle 14 JL Denly c Paine b Siddle 36 OA Shah c Paine b Lee 0 PD Collingwood c Paine b Johnson 34 EJG Morgan c Paine b Watson 9 SM Davies b Watson 5 LJ Wright c Paine b Siddle 48 TT Bresnan b Lee 80 GP Swann run out (Hauritz/Paine) 18 JM Anderson not out 5 G Onions run out (Ferguson/Paine) 1 EXTRAS: (w 6, nb 1) 7 TOTAL: (1 wicket, 41.5 overs) 257 Fall of wickets: 1-15, 2-16, 3-71, 4-91, 5-100, 6-101, 7-208, 8-245 , 9-251, 10-257 BOWLING: B Lee 9-0-46-2 (1nb, 1w) PM Siddle 10-0-55-3 (1w) JR Hopes 4-0-28-0 MG Johnson 10-1-61-1 (3w) SR Watson 8.4-1-35-2 (1w) NM Hauritz 6-0-32-0 AUSTRALIA SR Watson not out 136 TD Paine c Davies b Onions 4 RT Ponting not out 111 EXTRAS: (lb 2, w 5) 7 TOTAL: (1 wicket, 41.5 overs) 258 Did not bat: MEK Hussey, CL White, CJ Ferguson, JR Hopes, MG Johnson, B Lee, NM Hauritz, PM Siddle Fall of wickets: 1-6 BOWLING: JM Anderson 8.5-0-48-0 (1w) G Onions 8-0-47-1 (3w) TT Bresnan 8-0-51-0 (1w) PD Collingwood 8-0-50-0 GP Swann 5-0-31-0 LJ Wright 3-0-18-0 OA Shah 1-0-11-0 Toss: England, who chose to bat ODI debut: SM Davies (England) Player of the match: SR Watson (Australia) Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and BF Bowden (New Zealand) TV umpire: AL Hill (New Zealand) Match referee: JJ Crowe (New Zealand) Reserve umpire: Asad Rauf (Pakistan)