Aaron Finch fires Australia past England in opener

Aaron Finch' mammoth 128-ball 135 helped Australia beat England by 111 runs in their opening World Cup encounter which was played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday.

England's captain, Eoin Morgan, won the toss and put Australia in to bat first, but the move backfired, as Australia's openers, Finch and David Warner, got their side off to a flier.

The duo raced to 57 in the first eight overs, before Warner departed. England's bowlers made amends for their early transgressions and dismissed Shane Watson and Steven Smith in quick succession.

The hosts, at one stage looked shaky at 70 for three in the first ten overs. But that's when Finch and captain George Bailey dropped anchor. Bailey looked to feed the strike to his more aggressive partner who relentlessly punished England's bowlers for dropping him in the first over of the match.

He reached 50 off just 42 balls, with five fours, and his hundred from just 102 balls. Finch's 135 was the fifth-highest World Cup score by an Australia batsman.

His 146-run partnership with Bailey steadied the innings after a few top-order wobbles and he guided his side to a massive 342-run total.

England's batsmen, in reply, struggled to inject any adrenalin into the run rate. They lost opener Moeen Ali - in just the fifth over - and that prompted the start of a batting collapse, as Australia's fast bowlers sensed a weakened and unsure rearguard from England.

Mitchell Marsh did the bulk of the damage with the ball and accounted for five wickets. He dismissed Ian Bell, Joe Root, Gary Balance, Morgan and Jos Butler. Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell Starc claimed two wickets apiece.

"Surreal, it's just sinking it. We knew it was going to slow up a little bit. We would've batted first, it's a bit nervy being the first game of the tournament," Finch said. [Dropped catch] thought I hit it nicely off the middle, you're not allowed to put fielders there. Just moving past that. Everyone contributed with bat or ball and contributed in the field as well. Good to take this win and hopefull build momentum in the tournament."