Josh Inglis’s unbeaten and whirlwind 86-ball 120 powered Australia to the highest successful chase in the history of the ICC events during the fourth match of the Champions Trophy at the revamped Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Saturday.
Chasing a mammoth 352-run target, Inglis not only clinched his maiden ton but also crushed the hopes of England as Ben Duckett’s blazing 143-ball 165 went in vain.
Inglis smashed eight boundaries and six towering sixes in his innings will be remembered for a long time.
After facing early hiccups with the loss of Travis Head (6) and captain Steven Smith (5), Inglis found an able ally in Marnus Labuschagne (47), who started to rebound the Australian’s innings and sweep past England.
But it was the 146-run stand off just 116 balls between Inglis and Alex Carey that took the game away from England.
Archer dropped Carey’s catch; as a result, the latter notched a half-century.
Glenn Maxwell remained unbeaten by whacking two sixes and four boundaries in his 15-ball 32.
For England, Mark Wood (1-75), Jofra Archer (1-82), Brydon Carse (1-69), Adil Rashid (1-47), Liam Livingstone (1-47) took a scalp each.
Joe Root (0-26) remained wicketless.
Earlier, Ben Duckett had not only registered the highest individual score in the tournament’s history but also propelled England to 351-8 against England.
After put into bat first, England faced early hiccups, losing two batters – Philt Salt (10), Jamie Smith (15) – for just 43. But subsequently, it was the Ben Duckett’s show that captivated the attention of the fans in Lahore.
Duckett found an able ally in seasoned campaigner Joe Root. The pair stitched a 158-run partnership to steer England out of the doldrums.
Brendon McCullum will be proud with the way Duckett approached the batting, smoking 143-ball 165, studded with 17 boundaries and three towering sixes, before he was removed by Marnus Labuschagne in the death overs.
Joe Root played a great hand, creaming four boundaries in his cautious and sensible 78-ball 68.
Harry Brook could not managed to played a blistering knock and perished for just 6-ball 3.
England skipper Jos Buttler tried to play with great aplomb and was removed by Maxwell on 21-ball 23, smashing one boundary and one six.
Liam Livingstone could merely score 17-ball 14, studding with one six.
Brydon Carse was caught and ball by Labuschagne.
Jofra Archer played a blinder in the death overs and remained unbeaten on 10 balls, scoring 21, smashing two boundaries and one six.
Adil Rashid remained unbeaten on 1-ball 1.
