Eoin Morgan scored his sixth one-day international century to help rescue England and set Australia a target of 235 to win the World Cup warm-up in Sydney
The tourists got off to a terrible start, losing both Ian Bell and James Taylor for ducks to find themselves stuck on 0-2 in the early stages.
Bell was trapped lbw by Mitchell Starc with the first ball of the innings, before the bowler claimed the wicket of Taylor to leave England with a mountain to climb.
It did not get much better when Joe Root took to the crease, recording just five runs in the tri-series clash before being caught by Shane Watson off the bowling of Pat Cummins.
England did manage to steady the ship somewhat through Morgan, however, as he racked up 121 runs before being caught by Glenn Maxwell, hitting 11 boundaries and three big sixes in all.
Elsewhere, Moeen Ali (22), Ravi Bopara (13) and Jos Butler (28) kept the runs ticking over for England, while Chris Jordan and Chris Woakes added eight and 17 runs respectively to set Australia a target of 235 when play resumes.
