England 1-3 for World Cup after semi-final triumph over Australia

England are 1-3 to beat New Zealand in Sunday's World Cup final at Lord's after a dominant eight-wicket semi-final victory over Australia at Edgbaston.

England were sent off as 2-1 favourites at the start of the tournament and they are one win away from justifying those odds.

The Black Caps, runners-up to Australia at the 2015 World Cup, had been 11-1 ante-post and were still as big as 9-1 before their shock win over India in the first semi-final. Kane Williamson's side are 11-4 to win the final – the same price they had been to beat India at Old Trafford.

England captain Eoin Morgan lost what appeared to be a significant toss in the semi-final, allowing Australia to bat first. England were eased to 5-6 after the toss but Chris Woakes and Jofra Archer reduced the Aussies to 14-3 in the seventh over.

England were trading at 1-6 in-play at that stage, with the Aussies out to 4-1, and the hosts rarely looked troubled despite a century stand for the fourth wicket between Steve Smith and Alex Carey.

Adil Rashid dismissed Carey and Marcus Stoinis in the space of three balls to leave Australia struggling at 118-5. Smith's steely 85 hauled them to a total of 223 – the former captain had been 7-2 to top-score – but that score never seemed likely to challenge England.

The story of Australia's World Cup campaign
Best ante-post odds 15-4
Top runscorer D Warner 2-1 fav
Top wicket-taker M Starc 5-2 fav
Semi-final stage of elimination odds 2-1

Australia were 5-1 after the first innings, the same price as New Zealand had been midway through their semi-final win over India, but opener Jason Roy swiftly calmed any England nerves.

Roy, 100-30 to top-score at Edgbaston, blasted 85 off 65 deliveries and was unfortunate to be given out caught behind when replays showed he hadn't gloved the ball.

England's chase was a formality by that stage, however, and Joe Root (49 not out) and captain Morgan (45 not out) saw them home to a crushing victory over an Australia side who had won their league meeting by 64 runs.

The Aussies' bid for a fifth triumph in the last six World Cups ended at Edgbaston but 16-1 shot Mitchell Starc looks set to finish as the tournament's top bowler.

Starc has taken a record haul of 27 wickets and his closest challenger still in the tournament is England's Archer on 19.

Starc's teammate David Warner finished just one run behind India's Rohit Sharma in the top runscorer chart. Sharma has 648 runs but England's Root (549) and New Zealand skipper Williamson (548) remain within striking distance.

Sharma is 1-4 to cling on to his lead with Root 13-2 and Williamson 15-2 to finish top of the runscoring list. Coral have trimmed Root, who will captain England in next month's Ashes Test series, from 14-1 to 10-1 to be named BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Starc (5-2) and Warner (2-1) had been ante-post favourites to be Australia's top tournament bowler and batsman respectively.

Today's top sports betting stories

Follow us on Twitter @racingpostsport

Like us on Facebook RacingPostSport