Australia beat England by five wickets in a high-scoring Champions Trophy Group B match at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.
Josh Inglis hammered 120 not out, and Alex Carey (69) and Matthew Short (63) made half-centuries as Australia reached the target with 15 balls to spare.
Opener Ben Duckett smashed 165 to propel England to 351-8, a record total in the tournament’s history until Australia overwhelmed it after they were put into bat.
The 30-year-old left-hander smashed his highest ODI score, and third century, as England built a commanding total after being sent in to bat.
Duckett hit 17 fours and three sixes to beat the previous best individual score of 145 in the Champions Trophy. New Zealand’s Nathan Astle (2004) and Zimbabwean Andy Flower (2002) had shared the record.
In their opening Group B encounter, England also surpassed the previous highest innings tally in tournament history of 347-4 by New Zealand against the USA at The Oval in 2004.
Duckett added 158 for the third wicket with Joe Root, who made a measured 68 off 78 balls, to set the platform for a strong total against a weakened Australian attack.
Missing their pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Australia’s attack featuring Spencer Johnson, Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis struggled to contain England.
Duckett was finally dismissed by part-time spinner Marnus Labuschagne in the 48th over, improving on his previous highest of 107 not out against Ireland at Bristol in 2023.
England adopted the same aggressive style of batting with opener Phil Salt dispatching a boundary and a six in the first over before falling to Dwarshuis in the second for 10.
Dwarshuis also removed Jamie Smith for 15 before the Duckett-Root stand stabilised the innings.
Birthday boy Harry Brook (three), Jos Buttler (23) and Liam Livingstone (14) had brief innings before Jofra Archer delivered some late impetus with an unbeaten 21 off 10 balls.
Dwarshuis was the best Australian bowler with 3-66 while spinners Adam Zampa and Labuschagne took two wickets apiece.
Earlier, Australian captain Steve Smith had won the toss and opted to field.
South Africa, who beat Afghanistan by 107 runs on Friday, are the other team in Group B.
Title-holders Pakistan, India, New Zealand and Bangladesh comprise Group A.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the semi-finals.
Teams
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Spencer Johnson
England: Jos Buttler (captain), Ben Duckett, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Joel Wilson (WIS)
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI)
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)
PCB says taking up issue of Indian anthem with ICC
Meanwhile, a Dawn.com correspondent reported that part of the Indian national anthem was played before the Australian anthem prior to the game’s start.
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) spokesperson Sami Burney told Dawn.com that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had committed the mistake since it was in charge of the match’s playlist.
“The playlist they made included the anthems of all eight countries. India’s anthem shouldn’t even have been in the playlist since they’re not even playing in any of the matches [in Pakistan]. This is a total ICC mistake. They ran the wrong playlist.”
He said the PCB had contacted the ICC and sought an explanation.
“The PCB has no involvement in this. This tournament and playlist were of the ICC. Whether it was played mistakenly or deliberately, whatever it was, the ICC did it so the PCB has no involvement with this.
“The wait continues and it remains to be seen when, how and what clarification the ICC gives,” Burney said.
PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi was also questioned about the incident while interacting with the media in Dubai at the stadium to which he said too said that the ICC was organising the tournament.
