Matthew Hayden hammered 98 as Australia crushed England by seven wickets with five overs to spare in the opening match of a triangular limited-overs series on Friday.

Man-of-the-match Hayden's lighting century stand with fellow-opener Adam Gilchrist, who belted 53 from 50 deliveries, left the Australians in total control after Nick Knight had made 111 not out in England's total of 251 for eight at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Damien Martyn finished on 46 not out while Darren Lehmann was unbeaten on 27 as Australia cruised to victory, their eighth consecutive one-day win over England stretching back to 1999.

Knight made it through the entire England innings despite batting through the final few overs with a runner after suffering cramps.

He put on 101 in 17 overs with Marcus Trescothick (60) for the opening wicket and shared in a 102-stand with England captain Nasser Hussain for the third wicket before the middle-order collapsed.

Hussain said the tourists had played better than in recent matches but were once again outplayed by a superior team.

"It was pleasing to see the boys put on a show in front of a good crowd," Hussain said.

"I think we had our big-game heads on today. I think in the past three games we were below par but obviously the big crowd and the big occasion lifted us a little bit but it wasn't enough."

Brett Lee was the best of the Australian bowlers, collecting four wickets, including two in two balls in the final over of the innings, while Lehmann claimed three victims with his left arm spin.

Lee made the initial breakthrough when he had Trescothick caught at first slip, then Warne got rid of Ronnie Irani for a duck as the tourists lost two wickets in five balls.

FAMILIAR SLUMP

Hussain and Knight steadied the innings before the English skipper holed out to Jason Gillespie in the deep with the total on 205, triggering a familiar middle-order slump.

Knight had a let-off on 91 when Gilchrist missed a stumping but survived to post his fifth international one-day hundred and his first against Australia in 133 balls, featuring six fours and a six.

While England, yet to win a match on their Ashes tour, had managed a respectable total it soon became clear that it was unlikely to be enough as the Australians made light work of their run chase with the left-handed Hayden again leading the way.

"He's in great nick and he's got that sort of arrogance at the moment that he's got nothing to lose," Hussain said.

"He's got so many runs under his belt that he feels he can belt any ball anywhere...so we're going to have to go back to the drawing board and have another look at him."

Hayden and Gilchrist made a flying start as they brought up the first 50 in 6.1 overs before Gilchrist threw his wicket away with the total on 101 after 14 overs when he hit a catch straight to Owais Shah at long-on.

Ponting, presented with the International Cricket Council's one-day world championship shield before the match, made 18 before edging Ian Blackwell to slip.

EXPLOSIVE INNINGS

Hayden, who scored centuries in both innings of the first Ashes Test, seemed certain to bring up his fourth one-day hundred when he drove Blackwell straight to Trescothick at mid-on, ending an explosive 92-ball innings that included eight fours and two sixes.

"It was a pretty disappointing way to end the innings but it was important to give the team a good start," Hayden said.

"At the moment I am throwing caution to the wind a little bit but I think I'm putting pressure on sides and that's an important factor in one-day cricket."

Any thoughts England may have had of a fightback quickly disappeared as Martyn and Lehmann quickly got the remaining 62 needed.

The teams face each other again in Melbourne on Sunday before Sri Lanka play their opening match against England in Brisbane on Tuesday.