What a thriller at Gaddafi Stadium! England and Australia gave us an absolute nail-biter, but in the end, it was the Aussies who came out on top, scripting a historic record-breaking chase in the Champions Trophy! Their first win in the ICC Champions Trophy after 16 years.
But there's no time to breathe because up next, we have the biggest clash in world cricketโIndia vs Pakistan! Itโs Super Sunday in Dubai, and the stakes couldnโt be higher! Brace yourselves for a high-octane battle like no other tomorrow. Join us at 1:30 PM IST (12 PM Local Time).
For now, this is Pritam Dey signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Akshay Bhide who, along with scorer/analyst Raju Khariya brought all the actions of this clash. Stay tuned for more cricketing action from around the world. BYE BYE๐
Highest Successful Run Chases on Pakistani soil in ODIs:
355/4 by Pakistan vs South Africa, Karachi, 2025 (Target 353)
356/5 by Australia vs England, Lahore, 2025, Tonight (Target 352)*
349/4 by Pakistan vs Australia, Lahore, 2022 (Target 349)
Steve Smith (Australia Captain): "It was. I thought the boys were outstanding. Matt played really well upfront. Travis and I missed out. But the rest of the guys played brilliantly.
I think regardless of the team we had, we would have bowled first. There was plenty of dew last night when we trained here. It slowed down in the later stages of the first innings. At one stage, it looked like they would get past 400. But we were pleased with our effort.
Trusting each skill of the boys. Hit hard lengths and we were able to squeeze and control the things at the back end of the innings. Marnus bowled well in the end and we were pleased with our effort.
The two keepers are batting brilliantly in recent times. Josh hits the ball along the ground and plays 360. It was great to see him get his maiden ODI hundred. Alex also played brilliantly and it was a terrific effort."
Jos Buttler (England Captain): "No, it was a fantastic game first of all. Both sides played really well and I think we had put up a very good score. Credit to Australia there. Josh Inglis played a fantastic knock.
Yeah, maybe. I think 350 was a pretty good score. The dew was always a concern for us, however, whatever happens, if you chase down 350, it is a fantastic effort and congratulations to them.
(On Ben Duckett) Yeah fantastic. He played brilliantly. He has been brilliant at the top of the order in all the formats for us. We have been wanting players at the top who can go on and make big contributions, I think he has been doing that for a long time and I think he can be consistent in doing that especially in this format. We are delighted with the way he played but just ashamed that it was on the losing cause.
Yeah, we have played enough cricket to know that we need to get big Hundreds. As much as focusing on the individual scores, we should rather focus on the partnerships in the game. When we had that momentum, we required to build a couple of more partnerships. We need to take the focus off ourselves and work on getting those partnerships for the team. Root and Duckett did that for us today.
(On the 5th bowling option) I think those guys (Root and Livingstone) bowled really well. They created chances but full credit to Australia. We tried our best to find ways and break the partnership between Inglis and Carey earlier but we couldn't quite manage it. Sometimes you need to give credit to the opposition.
Yeah absolutely. We have immense belief on the guys to turn it around in the upcoming two games."
Fastest 100s in Champions Trophy:
77 balls - Virender Sehwag (India) vs England, Colombo, 2002
77 balls - Josh Inglis (Australia) vs England, Lahore, Tonight*
80 balls - Shikhar Dhawan (India) vs South Africa, Cardiff, 2013
87 balls - Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka) vs South Arica, Centurion, 2009
Josh Inglis (Player of the Match): "Yeah, over the moon obviously. Great win. We knew it was tough to come up against England. 350, a lot of things need to go right to chase it down. So happy with how things went.
There wasn't too discussion much at the half time. We knew it was going to be tough with the dew around. It was always going to be better to bat under lights.
Carey doesn't say anything when he bats. A few words here and there. I wasn't keen to look at the scoreboard. We just wanted to keep chipping in. We knew Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) was there to come. We wanted him to come in the last 10 overs.
I still think their part-timer options are quite handy. Livingstone and Root. You can't disrespect them. They have bowled quite a lot. I just wanted to stay till the end and take the advantage as the ball started skidding under lights.
A lot of confidence. It's a short and sharp tournament. We will recover and look forward to the next game."