Josh Inglis' maiden unbeaten hundred (120) enabled a comfortable five-wicket win for Australia against England in thier first match in the ongoing Champions Trophy in Lahore. At one point, it looked like Australia were down and out in the tall run chase of 352. However, a terrific fifth wicket stand of 146 runs between Inglis and Alex Carey gave Australia the much-needed impetus in the run chase. The 352 chase by Australia was also the highest-ever recorded chase in ICC events.
The chase took off from the Carey-Inglis stand, which knocked the stuffing out of England. The Jos Buttler-led side started well with the ball by removing Travis Head (6) and Steve Smith (5) runs. However, Matthew Short (63) kept the scorecard ticking. It was the partnership between Short and Marnus Labuschagne, that laid the foundation for this terrific run chase. Later, England briefly managed to come back into the contest by removing Short and Labuschagne, but in the end, English bowlers could not strike regularly to cause a dent in the Australia batting lineup.
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Inglis, who had come into the tournament with good form in white-ball cricket, continued his purple patch by taking the attack to the opposition. The 29-year-old took on England's premier bowlers Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, and showed his wide range of shots. Even Adil Rashid, who is so good in the middle overs for England failed to stop the run flow and pick wickets.
Alex Carey & Maxwell play perfect supporting roles to Inglis, as Australia ace run chase
While Inglis was the star of the run chase, Maxwell and Carey also played the part in supporting Inglis. Carey (69), yet again proved to be the crisis man for Australia, while Maxwell showed how good a finisher he is in ODIs. This terrific win by Australia has again shown to the world that you can never write them off in any of the ICC events.
Player of the Match Josh Inglis
"Over the moon, great win, 350, a lot of things have to go right. Pumped on a personal level. Not too much talk at half-time, knew it would be tough with the dew, skidded on nicely, knew it would be better batting second. Alex doesn't say anything when he bats, need to keep chipping away, with Maxi in the sheds, leave him to the last ten, we'd be a chance. Their part-time options are very handy, can't not respect their bowling, tried to tick over with the spin and knew at the back end the pace would skid on. One from one is important. we'll look to recover for the next game."
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