Australia chase 356 to beat England as the Cricket World Cup holders open their Champions Trophy account in Lahore.
Published On 22 Feb 2025
Josh Inglis marshalled two-time champion Australia’s record-breaking run chase at the Champions Trophy with a 77-ball century to hand England a five-wicket defeat in Lahore.
Inglis finished with an unbeaten 120 off 86 balls for a maiden ODI hundred that included eight fours and six sixes as Australia cruised to 356-5 in 47.3 overs on Saturday.
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.
Australia’s chase got off to a rocky start as Jofra Archer and Mark Wood removed Travis Head (6) and captain Steven Smith (5) in successive overs before the Australian middle-order batters countercharged the fast bowlers.
Matthew Short (63) and Marnus Labuschagne (47) combined in a 95-run stand with fast bowler Brydon Carse going for well over nine runs an over in his four-over spell before England put in spinners in the middle overs.
Adil Rashid denied Labuschagne a half-century when Jos Buttler held on to a sharp catch at short covers and then, Liam Livingstone took a smart low return catch to dismiss Short as Australia slipped to 136-4.
However, with dew setting in, Inglis and Alex Carey (69) mastermind the run-chase perfectly as it became difficult for the bowlers to handle the wet ball. The two batters shared a 146-run stand off 116 balls, but England missed an opportunity when Australia still needed 104 for victory.
Archer missed a regulation catch of Carey in the outfield in Rashid’s penultimate over before he completed his half-century and Inglis smashed Archer for two boundaries in the next over.
Carey was finally dismissed when he drove to Buttler at mid-off in Carse’s return spell, but Glenn Maxwell finished on 32 not out off 15 balls and Inglis, who raised his century with a pulled six off Archer, sealed the win in similar fashion with another a six off Wood at mid-wicket.
Duckett became the first batter in the history of the Champions Trophy to score more than 150 runs after Smith won the toss and elected to field on a flat wicket.
Duckett smashed his 165 off 143 balls with 17 fours and three sixes as the Australian second-string pace attack struggled on a wicket devoid of grass at a newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore.
New Zealand batter Nathan Astle held the previous record after he amassed an unbeaten 145 against the United States