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 at the Oval in 2004. 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-ground drives and was not afraid to reverse sweep against Australia’s best bowler on show, Adam Zampa (2-64).
Labuschagne (2-41) dismissed Duckett in the 48th over when the left-hander missed a straight ball while going for a sweep against the leg-spinner and was out leg before wicket.
Australia, which came into the event without Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc, did make early inroads.
Ben Dwarshuis (3-66) struck inside his first three overs when Carey, handing over the wicketkeeping gloves to Inglis, plucked a sensational diving catch on the edge of the 30-yard circle to dismiss Phil Salt (10) and then grabbed a hard drive of newly promoted number three batter Jamie Smith (15).
Duckett and Root raised England’s first century stand in ODIs this year with their better than run-a-ball partnership. Duckett raised his century off 95 balls with two straight boundaries against Spencer Johnson, who was taken out of the attack after 0-54 off his seven overs.
Zampa broke the threatening stand when he had Root trapped lbw in the 31st over and then Carey picked up another brilliant catch at point to dismiss Harry Brook for 3. But Duckett continued to score at brisk pace despite Buttler (23) and Livingstone (14) falling in quick succession while looking for acceleration.
Archer played a little cameo of 21 off 10 balls as he smacked Labuschagne for 12 runs off the final three balls and England made 83 runs off the final 10 overs.
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