England beat Aussies in one-dayer

England are on the verge of claiming bragging rights over Australia in all three forms of cricket.

AAP

ENGLAND are on the verge of claiming bragging rights over Australia in all three forms of the game following their four-wicket one-day victory over the tourists in Cardiff.

Chasing 240 to win on Thursday, the home side reeled in the target with 28 balls to spare as Australia endured another forgettable outing at Sophia Gardens.

Cameron White (86no off 98 balls) and Doug Bollinger (3-46 from 10 overs) did their best with bat and ball but England enjoyed a better spread of performers, led by paceman Stuart Broad (4-44 from 10 overs).

Man of the match in the opening game in Southampton, Eoin Morgan (52), maintained his super start to the series and contributions from captain Andrew Strauss (51 from 56 balls) and Paul Collingwood (48 from 65 balls) proved enough in the wash-up.

England, who won the 2009 Ashes series and last month's World Twenty20 final against Australia, lead the five-match series 2-0 before Sunday's game three in Manchester.

However Ponting thought England had some distance to go before they could be considered to hold an edge over his men.

"If that is what you think, that is fine," he said.

"Have a look at our head to heads and see who has got the bragging rights.

"Test cricket, one-day cricket and Twenty20 cricket.

"Tell me who has the bragging rights."

Tim Bresnan (12no) and Graeme Swann (19no) were the men to push England over the line, Swann hitting Clint McKay for six to complete the triumph.

White earlier guided Australia to 7-239 from 50 overs after Broad, who delivered the decisive spell in last year's Ashes series at The Oval, worked his way through Australia's batting order in another torrid trip to Wales for the tourists.

There was the debacle against Bangladesh in 2005, Andrew Symonds turning up drunk for the match and the cricket lightweights causing a major boilover.

Then there was last year's Ashes series opener in Cardiff with tailenders Monty Panesar and James Anderson surviving the last 40 minutes for a telling draw.

Strauss felt his side had made great strides since losing 6-1 in the seven-match one-day series against Australia in England last year.

"Australia have had a very good 12 months or so," he said.

"They played well against us last summer.

"But ultimately that was last summer and times have moved on.

"I am quite happy with where we are at the moment and ultimately the series will be decided over five games and not two.

"We are in a good position at the moment and I think the memories of our 6-1 defeat are still pretty fresh in our minds and we want to have some sort of revenge for that if we can.

"We are in a good position to do that now."

For the second straight contest, Australia's batsmen were unable to manage any sustained period of dominance against the disciplined England bowling attack.

White, Shane Watson (57 off 59 balls) and Steve Smith (41 off 53 balls) provided Australia with some sort of total but it was not nearly enough for the inexperienced attack to defend, especially after losing paceman Ryan Harris pre-match to a groin injury.