Australia’s Josh Inglis slammed a historic century against England in the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy encounter a Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium. Josh Inglis‘s ton powered the Aussies in their run-chase of 352. The Aussies were down to 136/4 before Inglis and Carey propelled them past 280. Josh Inglis raced to his maiden ODI century as Australia completed the run-chase in 47.2 overs. He entered an elite list.
Josh Inglis raced to his century off just 77 balls, now the joint-fastest in Champions Trophy history. He equaled India’s Virender Sehwag, who hammered a 77-ball ton against England in Colombo in 2002. No other player has slammed a ton in less than 80 balls in the tournament. Josh Inglis, who slammed his maiden ODI ton, has raced to 663 runs. His tally includes three fifties.
Josh Inglis entered another elite list of batters during his knock. He is now the fourth player with tons in each of the three formats for Australia. He joins Shane Watson, Glenn Maxwell, and David Warner on this list. Josh Inglis has a solitary century in two Tests, while his T20I career includes two hundreds (29 matches).
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : “Very pleasant from a player’s point of view – just 21 degrees, might get cooler as the night goes on and a gentle breeze. Dimensions – 63m and 73m square boundaries, 74m downtown. Outfield looks absolutely magnificent, it’ll be quick as lightning. This surface – it is an absolute road. It just looks fantastic. Has a nice covering of grass on it. It’s really hard. The batters should prosper. If they don’t, blame them.” reckons Simon Doull in his pitch report.
Toss : Australia skipper Steve Smith won the toss and chose to field with three seamers out of which two are left arm seamers and one spinner in the Playing XI. England skipper Jos Buttler won also wanted to bat first has already announced his Playing XI a day prior with Jamie Smith slotted to bat at No 3.
Ben Duckett’s record breaking 165 runs powers England to 351 in 50 overs
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.
Steve Smith put his opposition in, in anticipation of dew later in the evening. Phil Salt took four balls to size up left-arm quick Spencer Johnson before driving through mid-off for the first four and following it up with a straight six. Ben Dwarshuis, the other left-arm quick, arrived from the other end and sent Salt packing in just the second over.
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.
The dismissal however, was to the credit of a flying Alex Carey at mid-on. Salt flicked a full delivery in the air and Carey took a couple of steps to his right and dived with an outstretched right hand to complete a sensational take. England’s new No.3 Jamie Smith made a promising start but lasted only 13 balls for his 15 before he too hit one to Carey at mid-on off Dwarshuis.
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.
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.
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. Root and Duckett then settled in on fairly comfortable batting conditions to patiently build England’s essay as Glenn Maxwell and Adam Zampa operated from the two ends. Root soon got to his first 50-plus score in 11 innings against Australia in ODIs but couldn’t proceed to turn that into a century.
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 leg spinner 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.
Duckett meanwhile curbed a bit of natural instinct to attack throughout and did well playing straight against the spinners. The duo brought up the 150-run stand for the third wicket in the 30th over before Zampa trapped Root leg before in the 31st over. Root exited for a 78-ball 68.
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.
Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone were both snuffed out by spin after brief stays while Duckett carried on. He went on to surpass the highest individual score in Champions Trophy history, before getting out LBW to Marnus Labuschagne in the 48th over. Labuschagne picked another wicket but also conceded 15 off the final over as England took their total just past 350.
Ben Duckett became the sixth centurion of the Champions Trophy 2025 with the highest score in the tournament history (165), setting England up against Australia at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore. England showed better middle-overs batting smarts than they’d done in the lead-up to the tournament in India as Duckett and Joe Root added 158 runs from the sixth to the 31st over that paved the way for their eventual total of 351/8.
Josh Inglis 120* seals record win for Australia
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 Jofra Archer held a sharp return catch.
Jofra Archer, who found the most swing in the PowerPlay in this tournament, saw the back of Travis Head early in chase. The left-hander looked to drive a full ball that moved away late. Head’s bat turned in his hand and the ball looped back up in Archer’s direction who completed a catch in his follow-through. At the other end, Mark Wood bowled a fiery spell of four overs where only two of the 24 deliveries were fired in at under 150kmph. He took out Steve Smith in the midst of this effort, getting him to nick to Ben Duckett at slip.
Smith could only edge to slip a hard-length delivery from speedster Mark Wood, who was in great rhythm and consistently hitting speeds of 150 kph. But Matthew Short and Marnus Labuschagne rallied with a 95-run stand as they took a particular liking to wayward quick Brydon Carse.
Yet, Australia finished the PowerPlay on course in their tall chase at 76/2 with Marnus Labuschagne giving the team a quick recovery alongside Matthew Short. The pair looked to navigate their way through further against spin from both ends in Adil Rashid and Liam Livingstone, but slipped up in the former’s fifth over.
The runs dried up a touch against spin and Labuschagne fell trying to go after Rashid, hitting a full, tossed up ball to Jos Buttler at cover. Short, who got to his fifty during the course of his stand with Labuschagne, suffered a soft dismissal as he hit one straight back to Livingstone.
The runs dried up a touch against spin and Labuschagne fell trying to go after Rashid, hitting a full, tossed up ball to Jos Buttler at cover. Short, who got to his fifty during the course of his stand with Labuschagne, suffered a soft dismissal as he hit one straight back to Livingstone.
Short overcame a lean run of form by superbly using the pace of England’s quicks but leg spinner 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.
Rashid got a break from one end but Buttler continued to try to smother Australia with spin as Joe Root came on. Josh Inglis and Alex Carey however, took the spinners on to keep Australia’s scoring rate hovering at six-an-over. They started to take risks against Livingstone and went after Brydon Carse while Archer left the field with some discomfort.
The partnership swelled quickly and runs came off Wood too, who did not bring his early fire to his second spell. Josh Inglis got his fifty and Carey was on course for his when Buttler brought back Rashid. The leggie, who’d conceded just one four in his first six overs, bowled a seventh with five singles in the 34th.
But Rashid was taken out of the attack after his six-over spell, allowing Josh Inglis and Alex Carey to settle. The pair showcased their strong form having each scored counterattacking Test centuries against Sri Lanka as they got on top of a struggling England pace attack. Carey sheepishly celebrated his half-century after hitting Rashid straight to deep midwicket only for Archer to drop a sitter. Josh 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 Josh Inglis was unperturbed and mowed a six off Archer to reach his century in style.
Archer soon returned, fit and ready to bowl, but his attempted variations like the knuckle ball didn’t come off because of dew and Josh Inglis dispatched him for a couple of boundaries. The conditions gave the fifth-wicket pair the ammunition to close down the gap between the asking rate and the scoring rate. Their 100-run stand came off just 79 deliveries. Carey then got to his fifty in the 38th over, when Archer dropped a sitter in the deep to compound England’s woes.
Glenn Maxwell was unstoppable before Inglis fittingly sealed victory with a six in a terrific victory for World Cup champions Australia, whose title hopes ahead of the tournament had largely been written off.
Carse came back to break the stand, but that led to Glenn Maxwell’s arrival in the 42nd over with 70 to get. The fireworks first came from the other end as Inglis smashed his way to his 77-ball century. Maxwell also swung his bat around for a 15-ball 32* to complete the victory with five wickets and 15 balls to spare.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Steve Smith the winning Australia skipper said : I thought the guys were outstanding from the outset. Short played beautifully up top. Travis and I were the only two to miss out and the middle order did a tremendous job. Really pleased. Regardless of what team we have, we would have bowled first knowing how wet it got when we trained the other night and this evening.
Looked easiest to bat at the back end. I thought it slowed up in the end in the first innings and I thought 350 was chaseable. For a moment it looked like they were probably gonna get over 400, we were pleased by that effort and knew we could chase this if we batted 50 overs.
Trusting each others’ skills, boys did a really good job, took pace off at the right times, hit hard lengths and controlled at the back end of the game. Marnus bowled nicely at the back end. The two keepers have been batting beautifully for a while now. They are both in great form. Josh hits the ball all along the ground and has all the shots, Was an amazing effort from Inglis and Alex played beautifully as well. Really pleased with the team effort.
Jos Buttler the losing England skipper said : Fantastic game, both sides played really well. We put on a really good score there. Credit to Australia. Fantastic innings there from Josh Inglis to see his side home. I think 350 you would take that at the start. pretty good score. Dew was a worry and it was wet. Whatever happens with the conditions, to chase down 350 is a fantastic effort. He (Duckett) played brilliantly.
He’s been brilliant at the top of the order in all the formats. He can be incredibly consistent in this format. Delighted for him with the way he played. Just a shame it is in a losing cause. Rather focus on partnerships than individuals. Take the focus off yourself and work on getting those big partnerships. Root and Duckett did that. I thought those two (Root and Livingstone) bowled really well today.
They created chances. Credit to Australia. We tried to find ways to break that partnership Inglis and Carey earlier but just couldn’t manage it. Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition. Absolutely (confident), immense belief in the guys.
Josh Inglis Player of the Match for his unbeaten 120* said : Over the moon, great win. We knew it was going to be tough coming up against England, it always is. 350 – a lot of things have to go right to chase that down. Really pumped on a personal level. For the guys out there, it was a great performance. There wasn’t too much (talk) at the halftime. We’d done a lot of talking before the game.
We knew that second half here is going to be tough with all the dew. it’s quite wet now. It was always going to be better for us batting second. He (Carey) doesn’t really say anything when he bats, just a few words here and there. I was trying not to look at the scoreboard too much. We were going so well that we just need to keep chipping away. We knew with Maxi still in the sheds, there’d always be a chance.
I still think that their part-time options are very handy, Livi and Rooty have bowled a lot in international cricket, you can’t not respect their bowling. I tried to be proactive. At the back end, we knew it’d skid on nicely. Short, sharp tournament, to go 1 from 1 is really important, we’ll recover and look forward to the next game.
Josh Inglis took the honours on a historic day in the Champions Trophy as his 77-ball ton – the joint-fastest in the tournament’s history – eclipsed Ben Duckett’s epic 165 – the highest-ever individual score in the tournament. Duckett’s effort and Joe Root’s 68 pushed England to 351/8 which Australia chased down in the 48th over following Inglis’s unbeaten century and his 146-run stand with Carey. This is Australia’s first win in the Champions Trophy since the 2009 edition.
England came into the tournament on the back of woeful ODI form but made quick amends by showing appreciable batting gumption through the middle-overs – their biggest pain point recently. Duckett curbed his natural instincts to blaze away, and combined with the more assured Joe Root to stitch a big stand and set England up for a 300-plus total. But their bowlers couldn’t consolidate that performance as dew made its presence felt, like Steve Smith had predicted at the toss.
Ben Duckett provided the ruthlessness England so desperately craved for with a record knock of 165. But his heroics went in vain as Josh Inglis countered by pummelling a lacklustre England pace attack and powering Australia to the highest successful chase in men’s ICC tournament history.
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.
After losing Head and Smith inside 5 overs, Labuschagne and Short took the rebuilding role and amassed a near 100-run stand for the third wicket. The former tried to accelerate against the spin of Adil Rashid and perished. A couple of overs later, Short followed suit and fell to Livingstone. Out came Alex Carey, the man in rich vein of form recently in white-ball cricket. Carey joined hands with Inglis and the duo engineered a match-winning 146-run stand for the 5th wicket.
Once Carey got out, Maxwell came in and did what he does best – which is to play the finisher role to absolute perfection. Amidst all this was Josh Inglis, playing on a completely different wicket and hitting sixes for fun. He took time initially and once he got his eye-in, took the game head-on and decimated England with his innovative strokes notching his maiden ODI hundred while at it. England were a bit sloppy in the field, and the fact that there was dew didn’t help matters either…
This is the highest successful chase in all ICC tournaments. Chasing a mammoth score, you would generally expect one of Head or Smith to play a huge role given their rich experience in high-pressure environment across formats. That is how most purists might estimate the proceedings, but Australia have once again proven why they are not to be taken lightly in ICC tournaments. They just have this knack of picking up the pieces come the mega events. Don’t think they know a thing or two about bogging down under pressure, do they
Australia and ICC tournaments !!! Create your own one-liners. Absence of their best pace-trio. No contributions from their most experienced batting duo – Smith and Head. And they still find a way to get past the winning line. That said, England did most things right and gave their best to live up to the expectations of a high-voltage contest.
And if you think your weekend is over, you clearly aren’t following the CT schedule. Up tomorrow will be the mother of all rivalries – Pakistan vs India in Dubai. India will look to settle scores (remember the CT 2017 final?), while Pakistan fight to stay alive in the tournament.