NOTTINGHAM, England, (Reuters) – Ricky Ponting piled  on the misery for England with a masterful century to help  Australia claim a comfortable four-wicket win and a 5-0 lead in  the one-day series yesterday.

Captain Ponting thumped 126 in 109 balls as the visitors  eased to their target of 300 with 10 deliveries to spare at  Trent Bridge.

Australia, who again lost the toss, will now target a clean  sweep in the sixth and seventh games in Nottingham on Thursday  and in Durham on Sunday.

Ponting’s side hit 302 for six, Mitchell Johnson clinching  victory with a six over long-on from a full toss by seamer Ryan  Sidebottom.

The win was set up by a well-paced third-wicket partnership  of 133 between man of the match Ponting and Michael Clarke (52),  who led the team in the first three matches of the series while  the skipper rested at home in Australia.

MIGHTY SIX
Ponting’s 27th century in his 317th one-dayer was the  highlight of the match. The first of his three sixes, off  Sidebottom in the 12th over, went into the third tier of the  stand behind the bowler’s arm at the Radcliffe Road End.

His other sixes came in consecutive balls off leg-spinner  Adil Rashid.

Ponting was eventually caught on the long-off boundary as  Stuart Broad grabbed his second wicket of the over.

Earlier, several batsmen made solid contributions in  England’s 299 all out but yet again in the series no one was  able to go on to a three-figure score.

Number six Eoin Morgan struck 58 from 41 balls, including  three sixes, while opener Joe Denly added 45.   Last month England regained the Ashes with a 2-1 victory in  the test series against Australia.