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LAHORE: Josh Inglis hit a maiden century to help Australia chase down the highest target in Champions Trophy history in a five-wicket win over old rivals England in Lahore on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Inglis, who was born in England, smashed an unbeaten 86-ball 120 as Australia chased down 351-8 in 47.3 overs to open their Group B account at Qaddafi Stadium.
The blistering performance from Inglis not only trumped England opener Ben Duckett’s 143-ball 165 — the highest individual score in event history — but enthralled a near-capacity 31,000 weekend crowd.
Inglis carted six sixes and eight boundaries, including the winning maximum off express fast bowler Mark Wood.
Australia were struggling at 27-2 with Travis Head (six) and skipper Steve Smith (five) falling to Jofra Archer and Wood respectively.
Matthew Short, who hit a 66-ball 63 with nine boundaries and a six, added 95 for the third wicket with Marnus Labuschagne (47 off 45 balls with five fours) but spinners Liam Livingstone and Adil Rashid dismissed both.
With Australia still needing an imposing 215 in 27.4 overs, Alex Carey and Inglis brought the chase back on track by adding an invaluable 146 for the fifth wicket.
Carey, dropped on 49 by Archer off Rashid, finally holed out off pace bowler Brydon Carse after a fighting 63-ball 69 with 70 still needed.
Inglis brought up his hundred with two sixes off Carse and one against Archer, reaching the three-figure mark off 77 balls.
Glenn Maxwell played a trademark fiery knock of 32 not out from 15 balls with two sixes and four boundaries as Australia took 226 runs off England’s pace trio of Wood, Archer and Carse.
“We thought 350 was chaseable,” said Smith.
“The two keepers (Inglis and Carey) have been batting beautifully. Josh played shots all round the ground.”
Smith joked: “I don’t know if Josh still has an English passport, but he’s not going anywhere.”
England skipper Jos Buttler blamed the dew for his team’s struggles with the ball.
“A fantastic game, both sides played well, credit to Australia,” said Buttler.
“It was a fantastic innings from Inglis. 350 is a pretty good score, but it was wet and the dew was a worry.”
Earlier, Duckett smashed his highest ODI score, and third century, as England built a commanding total after being sent in to bat on a flat pitch.
Duckett hit 17 fours and three sixes to better the previous best individual score of 145 in the Champions Trophy. New Zealand’s Nathan Astle (2004) and Zimbabwean Andy Flower (2002) had shared the record.
England also surpassed the previous highest innings tally in tournament history of 347-4 by New Zealand against the USA at The Oval in 2004.
Duckett added 158 for the third wicket with Joe Root, who made a measured 68 off 78 balls, to set the platform for a big total against a weakened Australian attack.
Missing star pace trio of Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, Australia’s attack of Spencer Johnson, Ben Dwarshuis and Nathan Ellis struggled to contain England.
Duckett was finally dismissed by part-time spinner Labuschagne in the 48th over, improving on his previous highest of 107 not out against Ireland at Bristol in 2023.
England adopted the same aggressive style of batting with opener Phil Salt dispatching a boundary and a six in the first over before falling to Dwarshuis in the second over for 10.
Dwarshuis also removed Jamie Smith for 15 before Duckett and Root stabilized the innings.
Harry Brook, on his 26th birthday, made three. Captain Jos Buttler (23) and Livingstone (14) also had brief stays before Archer delivered some late impetus with an unbeaten 21 off 10 balls.
Dwarshuis was the best Australian bowler with 3-66 while spinners Adam Zampa and Labuschagne took two wickets apiece.
Arch-rivals India and Pakistan meet in a high-voltage Group A game in Dubai on Sunday.

LONDON: Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge was dented by an unexpected 1-0 home loss to West Ham on Saturday that featured a fifth red card of the season for Mikel Arteta’s team.
Second-place Arsenal squandered a chance to trim the gap to Liverpool to five points as Jarrod Bowen’s first-half header secured a win for West Ham, which arrived at Emirates Stadium with just one victory in their last eight games.
There was worse to come for Arsenal, with left back Myles Lewis-Skelly handed a red card following a video review for his foul as the last man. The team’s disciplinary record under Arteta has come under scrutiny this season — and might yet cost the Gunners the title, along with key injuries to their attack.
With the likes of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus out injured, Arsenal had only two shots on target against West Ham.
It leaves Liverpool with an eight-point cushion, having played the same number of games as Arsenal, and that advantage could grow when the leaders play Manchester City away on Sunday.
Fifth-place Bournemouth lost 1-0 at home to Wolverhampton to damage their bid for a finish in the Champions League qualification positions.
Bournemouth defender Illya Zabarnyi’s 31st-minute red card was quickly followed by the winning goal by Matheus Cunha for Wolves.
Tottenham won 4-1 at Ipswich to further ease the pressure on manager Ange Postecoglou, last-place Southampton lost 4-0 at home to Brighton, and Crystal Palace won 2-0 at Fulham.