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LAHORE, Feb 22 (APP):Ben Duckett slammed a commanding 165 to lead England to an imposing total of 351-8 at Gaddafi stadium, Lahore but Josh Inglis’ blistering unbeaten knock of 120 runs pulled off an amazing come from behind win for Australia in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Australia chased the world record total with 15 balls to spare and the victory means Australia are well placed to vie for a semi-final berth in Dubai courtesy a maiden century from the player of the match Josh Inglis.
Australia’s 356 is the highest run-chase of the Gaddafi stadium, Lahore as well as highest of the any ICC event be it the ODI World Cup or the Champions Trophy. Previously, Pakistan has chased 349 runs at the same venue against Australia in 2022. The record of the highest run chase in an ICC ODI World Cup was also held by Pakistan.
Australian batsmen kept themselves in the hunt with aggressive batting despite losing two early wickets for 27 runs in the fifth over of the innings. Travis Head 6 (5) and Steven Smith 5 (6) fell cheaply to Jofra Archer and Mark Wood respectively.
Matthew Short 63 (66) and Alex Carey 69 (63) hit half-centuries while Marnus Labuschagne scored 47 (45) and Maxwell contributed a whirlwind 32 off 15 balls to lend a hand to Josh Inglis finish the match with a six over the midwicket boundary off Mark Woof to seal the deal for Australia.
Inglis’ mighty knock of 120 not out was laced with eight boundaries and six 6s and it trumped the somewhat cautious batting by the English batters during the last powerplay. England were 268-4 at the end of the 40th over and could score only 83 runs off the last 10 overs. When Ben Ducket and Joe Root were on the crease, England looked to post 400 runs on the board but the Three Lions could not take advantage of the highest partnership of the match.
Inglis also stood true to the words of his captain who had asked his young guns to fire during the pre-match press conference a day before the match. The Australian young guns did fire all cylinders at the Gaddafi stadium on Saturday night as their batsmen did not let the captain feel the absence of the four of their premier cricketers including Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Stark and Mitchell Marsh who missed the Champions Trophy due to injury or personal reasons.
England must rue the missed opportunity when Jofra archer dropped Alex Carey on 49 at mid-wicket off Brydon Carse with the team total at 248 in the 38th over. Australia still needed 104 runs in 12 overs then. Englis and Carey partnered in 146 run partnership and took the Australians closer to the target when Carey fell at 282-5 in the 42nd over.
All England bowlers except for Joe Root (4-0-26-0) picked a wicket each but they all proved costly except for Adil Rashid who conceded 47 runs in 10 overs. Jofra Archer leaked 82 runs off his 10 overs while Wood gave away 75 off 9.3 overs. Liam Livingstone conceded 47 off seven overs and Brydon Carse 69 in his seven overs.
Earlier, A 158 runs partnership for the third wicket between Ben Duckett and Joe Root enabled England to reach a mammoth total and setting Australia a target of 352 runs.
Ben Ducket 165 off 143 – the highest individual score of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 so far – was the mainstay of the England innings and played the sheet anchor role to take his team to a total past 300 runs in a crucial match to take ascendency in Group B.
Ben Ducket and Joe Root got together when England two wickets in quick succession with the total at 43 in 5.2 overs after they were asked to bat first by Australia who won the toss. Phil Salt and Jamie Smith played identical quick knocks but fell cheaply to Ben Dwarshuis. Phil Salt scored 10 off six ball including a boundary and a six while Jamie Smith hit three boundaries in an innings of 15 runs off 13 balls.
Duckett and Root steadied England innings from the early scare and took their ship to safe waters with a big partnership of 158 runs off 154 balls before Joe Roof fell for 68 off 78 balls. His innings was marked by caution as he hit only four boundaries and helped England gain dominance.
Ben Duckett scored his 50 off 49 balls while Joes Root hit fifty of 56 balls while they reached the hundred runs partnership in 96 balls. Duckett brought the 100 runs partnership with back-to-back 4s off Zampa on the last two balls of the 21st over of the England innings.
The lean patch with Harry Brook continued in the Champions Trophy as he could score only 3 (6) runs before he misread a Zampa leg-break and gave Carey the third consecutive catch of the innings at point. No other English batter could make a major contribution as Jos Buttler 23 (21), Liam Livingstone 14 (17) and Brydon Carse 8 (7) were the other contributors. Jofra Archer 21 (10) and Adil Rashid 1 (1) remained unbeaten.
The bowlers toiled on the batting friendly, somewhat, placid Gaddafi stadium pitch as Australia used seven bowlers. If there was any juice left in the soil, it was exploited by Dwarshuis while the rest was blown away by the benevolent February Sun on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Australia played three fast bowlers including Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis and Johnson Spencer with one specialist spinner in Adma Zampa. All-rounder Glenn Maxwell served as the fifth bowler while Matthew Short could also bowl gentle off-breaks.
Matthew Short bowled only one over while Marnus Labuschagne claimed two scalps including the wicket of Ben Duckett for 41 runs.
Dwarshuis was the only successful pace bowler who claimed three wickets off his 10 overs for 66 runs while Spencer Johnson and Nathan Ellis remained wicketless. Ellis conceded 51 runs off his 10 overs while Spencer gave away 54 runs in seven overs he bowled. The spin-bowling quartet of Zampa, Maxwell, Livingstone and Short bagged five wickets among them with Adama Zampa and Livingstone claiming a brace. Maxwell conceded 58 runs for one wicket in seven overs.
England are due to play their next match at Gaddafi stadium on 26th February (Wednesday) while Australia will play their last group match against Afghanistan at Gaddafi on February 28 (Friday).