Austrailia captain Ricky Ponting constructed a classy stand of 126 to help secure a convincing victory over England in the fifth NatWest Series One Day International at Trent Bridge.
The tourists completed the victory with ten balls to spare to take a five-nil lead in the series ahead of Thursday's fixture.
"The wicket was exceptional and the outfield was lively so we knew that the target was reachable," said Ponting.
"I felt in control from the off, started well and kept on track. I've stressed the importance of the remaining games in the series because we want to perform strongly on Thursday and Sunday and go to South Africa in a confident frame of mind."
Nottinghamshire's Stuart Broad contributed 22 runs to England's total of 299-9 after England captain Andrew Strauss won the toss and elected to bat in front of a sell-out crowd. Strauss contributed 35 to an opening stand of 61 with Joe Denly.
Ravi Bopara (18), Matt Prior (37) and Owais Shah (31) made decent contributions but Eoin Morgan was the main architect of the innings with 58 from 41 balls.
England remained in contention after Tim Bresnan struck twice to remove Shane Watson and Tim Paine but Ponting and Michael Clarke shared a 125 run partnership for the third wicket.
Ryan Sidebottom was England's most economical bowler but Broad took two wickets including that of Ponting who was caught by Owais Shah on the long-off boundary.