ICC Champions Trophy 2025: Australia beat England in record chase
Inglis’ maiden ODI hundred, which included eight fours and six sixes, saw Australia defeat Australia 356-5 in 47.3 overs on Saturday, with an unbeaten 120 off 86 balls.
It was the highest-ever successful run chase in all ICC ODI tournaments.
Inglis’s terrific power-hitting eclipsed Ben Duckett’s 165, which was the highest-ever individual knock in the history of Champions Trophy and had anchored England to a score of 351-8 in their Group B opener.
Before the fast bowlers countercharged, Australia’s chase got off to a rocky start with Travis Head (6) and captain Steven Smith (5), Jofra Archer and Mark Wood clearing the bowlers in successive overs.
Fast bowler Brydon Carse, who had a four-over partnership with England, scored nine runs an over in the middle over, with Matthew Short (63) and Marnus Labuschagne (47), who combined for a 95-run stand.
When Jos Buttler and Liam Livingstone both had sharp catch opportunities at short covers, Adil Rashid denied Labuschagne a half-century, and Short was the only one to lose to Australia, who finished with a score of 136-140.
However, Inglis and Alex Carey (69) mastermind the run-chase perfectly as the wet ball started to get in the way. The two batters shared a 146-run stand off 116 balls, but England missed an opportunity when Australia still needed 104 for victory.
Before Rashid’s penultimate over, Archer missed a regulation catch of Carey in the outfield before half-century, and Inglis smashed Archer for two boundaries in the next over.
Inglis, who raised his century with a pulled six off Archer, added another six to Wood’s midwicket, and Carey was finally dismissed when he drove to Buttler at mid-off in Carse’s return spell.
After Smith won the toss and chose to field on a flat wicket, Duckett became the first batter to score more than 150 runs in Champions Trophy history.
At a recently renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Duckett struggled on a wicket devoid of grass as the Australian second-string pace attack struggled to score 165 off 143 balls with 17 fours and three sixes.
Nathan Astle, a batter from New Zealand, set the previous record with a 145-run performance in a 2004 game against the United States. The Black Caps ‘ 347-4 in the same game was the previous highest team total of the tournament.
Duckett laid a solid foundation for England’s strong finish when he combined in a 158-run stand with Joe Root, who made 68 off 78 balls.
Duckett was dominant against the pace with his down-the-field drives, and he was unfazed to reverse sweep against Adam Zampa, Australia’s best bowler on display (2-64).
When Duckett missed a straight ball while going for a sweep against the leg-spinner and was out of leg before the wicket, Labuschagne (2-41) dismissed him.
Australia, which came into the event without Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, did make early inroads.
When Carey, who had handed Inglis the wicketkeeping gloves, made a sensational diving catch on the edge of the 30-yard circle to dismiss Phil Salt (10), and then grabbed the hard drive of newly promoted number three pitcher Jamie Smith (15), Ben Dwarshuis (33-66) struck within his first three overs.
Duckett and Root raised England’s first century stand in ODIs this year with their better than run-a-ball partnership. Spencer Johnson, who was eliminated from the attack after 0-54 from his seven overs, scored two straight centuries as Duckett rose from the bat.
When Zampa had Root trapped in the 31st over, Carey made yet another brilliant catch to send Harry Brook home for 3. Buttler (23) and Livingstone (14) both fell quickly while trying to accelerate, but Duckett kept scoring at a quick pace.
Source: Aljazeera
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