Ben Duckett provided the ruthlessness England so desperately craved with a record knock of 165. But his heroics went in vain as Josh Inglis countered by pummeling a lackluster 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.

However, the result was not a fait accompli on this flat surface, with Australia boasting a deep batting line-up. Australia’s innings mirrored England’s with two early wickets after Travis Head and stand-in captain Steven Smith fell in the powerplay.

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.

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 Mathew Short and Marnus Labuschagne rallied with a 95-run stand as they took a particular liking to wayward quick Brydon Carse.

Short overcame a lean run of form by superbly using the pace of England’s quicks but legspinner Adil Rashid bowled a brilliant spell in combination with Liam Livingstone that squeezed the batters.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR 23 FEBRUARY 2025 
Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 23 February 2025 by the Department of Meteorology

Misty conditions can be expected at some places in Western, Sabaragamuwa, Central, Uva and North-central provinces and Kurunegala district during the morning.

Showers or thundershowers may occur at a few places in Galle, Matara, Kaluthara and Rathnapura districts in the evening or night. Mainly dry weather will prevail elsewhere over the island.

The general public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by temporary localized strong winds and lightning during thundershowers.

WEATHER FORECAST FOR SEA AREAS AROUND THE ISLAND DURING NEXT 24 HOURS
[Issued at 05.30 a.m. on 23 February 2025]

Mainly fair weather will prevail over the sea areas around the island.

Winds will be north-easterly and speed will be (20-30) kmph. Wind speed can increase up to 40 kmph at times in the sea areas off the coast extending from Negombo to Mannar via Puttalam  and from Matara to Pottuvil via Hambantota.

The sea areas off the coasts extending from Negombo to Mannar via Puttalam and from Matara to Pottuvil via Hambantota can be fairly rough at times. Other sea areas around the island will be slight.

Ryan Rickelton is showing the value of runs under the belt. He came into the Champions Trophy on the back of a solid SA20, where he was the fourth-highest scorer. Before that, he had smoked 259 in the New Year’s Test against Pakistan. On Friday, it was time for him to leave his mark on the 50-over format as he scored his maiden ODI century in his seventh game as South Africa began their Champions Trophy with a solid 107-run win over Afghanistan.

Batting first on a Karachi surface that had a nice layer of grass, South Africa rode on Rickelton’s 103 followed by steady fifties from Temba Bavuma,  Rassie van der Dussen and Aiden Markram  to rack up 315 for 6. That meant Afghanistan had to record their highest-ever successful chase if they had to win on Champions Trophy debut.

But they never really got close. Rahmat Shah  was the only bright spot as he scored a sprightly 90 off 92 balls, and was the last batter to fall. But with a second-highest score of 18, Afghanistan were never really in it. Kagiso Rabada  picked up three wickets, while Lungi Ngidi and Wiaan Mulder  got two each as Afghanistan were bundled for 208 in 43.3 overs.

It was a largely flawless innings from Rickelton. He never looked rushed; not when Tony de Zorzi fell early or when Bavuma took his time to get going. Rickelton struck boundaries whenever he got a chance. When he didn’t, he quietly rotated the strike. He started with a lovely punch past mid-off third ball before going back-to-back against Fazalhaq Farooqi in the fifth over, once with a fierce pull through midwicket and then a cut past point.

De Zorzi also struck two fours but fell to a rather nonchalant delivery from Mohammad Nabi early on when he flopped it straight to mid-on

Bavuma’s first 19 balls yielded only seven runs before he got a couple of fours away to get into the groove. Rickelton, meanwhile, picked Azmatullah Omarzai for two delightful fours to raise his fifty off just 48 balls.

South Africa ticked along to 83 for 1 after 15 overs, but an important passage of play was about to come: South Africa batters vs Afghanistan’s spinners. That’s where Rickelton really showed his wares. He would have faced a lot of Rashid Khan in the SA20 nets as they were part of the victorious MI Cape Town side, and that experience showed.

Bavuma got to his second fifty away from home, as he continued his rich form. He had a solid 129-run stand for the second wicket with Rickelton, before holing out to deep midwicket as Nabi picked his second wicket.

By that time, Rickelton had moved into his 90s, and had hardly broken a sweat. Afghanistan hardly helped themselves in the field, too. There were several misfields, and a run-out chance fluffed, while Noor Ahmad was particularly off-colour. He was either too short, or too full, and often tried to dart the ball in and lost his shape.

Rickelton soon became the first South Africa batter to register a century on Champions Trophy debut with a push to long-off.

Afghanistan got a lucky break when Rickelton was run-out in bizarre fashion. He bunted a Rashid length ball back to the bowler, who fired a flat throw to the wicketkeeper. Rickelton, out of his crease, was caught off-guard just a touch, and as he put in the dive, his bat bounced just short of the crease. That meant even though his bat was over the line, it was in the air when Rahmanullah Gurbaz whipped the bails off.

There was no respite for Afghanistan though. Van der Dussen, coming into the tournament not in great nick, was fluent and Markram found his stride as well, with both batters recording fifties. The last five overs yielded South Africa 51 runs as they posted an above-par total.

For Afghanistan to chase down 316, it was imperative for Gurbaz to get going. But South Africa’s new-ball bowlers weren’t ready to give him an inch. Ngidi’s short-of-a-length ball got the better of Gurbaz as he got a top-edge to short fine leg. No. 3 Sediqullah Atal struggled big time. Ibrahim Zadran finally broke the shackles by hammering Rabada over wide long-on. That obviously did not please the bowler, who returned with a 148.3kph thunderbolt and sent Ibrahim’s middle stump splat.

The South Africa pace bowlers concentrated on that hard length. According to ESPNcricinfo’s ball-by-ball data, in the first 15 overs, 33 of the balls bowled by South Africa were either short or short-of-a-good length.