Australia 356 for 5 (Inglis 120*, Carey 69, Short 63, Rashid 1-47) beat England 351 for 8 (Duckett 165, Root 68, Dwarshuis 3-66, Labuschagne 2-41, Zampa 2-64) by five wickets
The first match at an ICC event in Lahore since March 1996 saw batting completely dominate this Champions Trophy blockbuster with little margin for error for the bowlers on such a benign surface.
With a mixture of inventive strokes and meaty backfoot blows, England-born Inglis hit his maiden ODI century to finish unbeaten on 120 from 86 balls as Australia reached the target of 352 with relative ease in the 48th over. England’s bowlers struggled to handle the dew under lights, with Australia achieving their second-highest successful ODI chase after their 359 for 6 against India in Mohali in 2019.
It was a bitter disappointment for England, who now face must-win games against Afghanistan and South Africa. They ultimately will rue falling a little bit short with the bat, but Duckett’s magnificent 165 off 143 was the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history. He received strong support from Joe Root, who made a crisp 68 in a third-wicket partnership of 158.
Even though no other batter scored more than 25 runs, England still compiled the highest-ever total in the tournament and took full toll on the least experienced Australian attack at an ICC ODI event since 1983. They were without frontline quicks Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, while seam-bowling allrounders Cameron Green, Mitchell Marsh and Marcus Stoinis are also missing.
However, the result was not a fait accompli on this flat surface, with Australia boasting a deep batting line-up. Australia’s innings mirrored England’s with two early wickets after Travis Head and stand-in captain Steven Smith fell in the powerplay.
Having blazed an unforgettable century the last time he was sighted at a 50-over ICC event, Head loomed as the key but on 6 his swipe hit the toe-end of the bat and quick Jofra Archer held a sharp return catch.
Short overcame a lean run of form by superbly using the pace of England’s quicks but legspinner Adil Rashid bowled a brilliant spell in combination with Liam Livingstone that squeezed the batters.
A frustrated Labuschagne hit a slow 70 kph legbreak from Rashid straight to cover before Short on 63 offered a return catch to Livingstone as Australia slumped to 136 for 4.
Carey sheepishly celebrated his half-century after hitting Rashid straight to deep midwicket only for Archer to drop a sitter. Inglis then whacked Archer for consecutive boundaries as the wheels started to come off for England.
Just as Australia started to gain control, Carey hit Carse straight to mid-off with 70 still needed off 50 balls. But Inglis was unperturbed and mowed a six off Archer to reach his century in style.
Smith elected to bowl after being swayed that dew would play a factor under lights as Australia stepped onto the field at an ICC event without their big three quicks for the first time in nine years.
Australia’s considerably weakened attack was under immediate pressure on a road of a pitch. There was no Starc, but Australia were not short on aggressive left-arm quicks with Spencer Johnson, whose trademark golden locks had been shorn off, and Ben Dwarshuis handed the new ball.
Dwarshuis was selected ahead of Sean Abbott, who had played in both of Australia’s ODI games in Sri Lanka, for match-up reasons although his two early wickets were mostly due to rash strokes.
England’s reshuffled batting line-up didn’t go to plan initially. In a common bane for them, they went a bit hard early with Phil Salt falling in the second over after falling to clear the on-side as a high-flying Carey plucked a one-handed blinder of a catch to his right.
It was a spectacular first-ever ODI catch for Carey as an outfielder and helped justify the decision for Inglis, the incumbent white-ball wicketkeeper, to retain the gloves.
All eyes were on Jamie Smith, who batted at No. 3 for the first time in international cricket – and only the second time in his List A career – in a decision that forced Root, Harry Brook and Jos Buttler to shift down from their usual positions.
Smith stroked a couple of gorgeous cover drives, before falling tamely to the on-side where Carey took a far easier catch on this occasion.
England did not envision being 43 for 2, but they recovered quickly as Duckett and Root cashed in on errant bowling from Johnson and Dwarshuis. Duckett had started relatively slowly, but blasted a boundary off the last delivery of the powerplay as England moved to 73 for 2.
Smith reverted to spin after the restrictions were eased but there was little turn on offer as Duckett and Root easily rotated the strike. Smith was fairly conservative with his tactics and deployed four sweepers.
Duckett showcased his improved prowess of hitting down the ground by targeting Maxwell straight and he reached his half-century in style with a horizontal bat shot off Johnson.
Root was making it look easy, not fussed about hitting boundaries but smartly working the gaps to reach his half-century off 56 balls. He had a perfect opportunity to end a long ODI century drought stretching to the 2019 World Cup as England eyed a total in the high 300s.
But Root got tied down by legspinner Adam Zampa, was was in the midst of a good spell, and missed a rare attempted sweep to fall in a tight lbw after an unsuccessful review. Australia fought back through Zampa, whose subtle variations proved effective and accounted for Brook with Carey taking another terrific catch after a diving effort running backward at point.
Seamer Nathan Ellis also utilised his noted defensive skills and conceded just 51 runs off his 10 overs – the only bowler with an economy of under six.
England feared letting slip a great platform just like they did against Australia at Trent Bridge last September. But Duckett held things together and blasted consecutive boundaries off Johnson to reach his third ODI century.
He punched the air in celebration, but did not waver in his concentration despite being clearly fatigued. Duckett’s brilliant innings finally ended in the 48th over when he was trapped lbw by the legspin of Labuschagne, who was preferred over Johnson at the death and finished with 2 for 41 off five overs.
Archer hit a flurry at the death, but his mood soured later in the night.
Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth
