We thought England would reach 400: Steve Smith | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: According to Steve Smith, his Australian squad first believed that England would reach 400 runs on a level field in Lahore, but his bowlers dragged the team down to a “chaseable” total of 352, and they won their high-scoring Champions Trophy encounter on Saturday by five wickets.
The previous best chase by any side at an ICC white-ball tournament was Pakistan’s 345 against Sri Lanka at the 2023 men’s World Cup, which was surpassed by Australia‘s five-wicket victory.
“We thought 350 was chaseable. Looked like they (England) would get 400 but we trusted each other’s skills, took pace off at the right times, hit hard lengths, squeezed and controlled the back end,” Smith said at the post-match presentation.
“Marnus bowled nicely too and took a few wickets. The two ‘keepers (Alex Carey and Josh Inglis) have been batting beautifully, (they are) in great form,” said the skipper who opted to bowl after winning the toss.
Inglis played the innings of his life, hitting his first ODI century (120 not out) to outshine England opener Ben Duckett‘s brilliant 165. He was the primary architect of the five-wicket victory.
“The guys were outstanding, Matt Short played beautifully, Travis (Head) and I (were) the only two to miss out. We would have bowled first regardless, given how wet it got in training. It slowed up in the first innings.
“Josh didn’t get out of second gear, shots all round the ground. I don’t know if Josh still has an English passport, but he’s not going anywhere,” he said of Inglis who was born in England but moved to Australia with his family when he was 14.
Understandably, Inglis, who won Player of the Match, was “over the moon” following his incredible knock.
“It’s a great win, (while chasing) 350, a lot of things have to go right. (I am) 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 (Carey) 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.”
Jos Buttler, the captain of England, attributed the victory to Australia and Inglis. “A fantastic game, both sides played well, credit to Australia, fantastic innings from Inglis. We couldn’t break that partnership, got to give credit to the opposition,” he said.
“350 is a pretty good score, but it was wet and the dew was a worry.”
Despite it being a losing cause, he commended Duckett on his outstanding 165.
“Duckett has been brilliant at the top of the order in all formats, he’s been threatening a big contribution for some time. (It is a) shame it was in a losing cause. Everyone has played enough cricket to know you need to go on, but take the focus off yourself and focus on the big partnerships, (Joe) Root and Duckett did that well.
“Root and Livi (Liam Livingstone) bowled well, created chances. Immense belief and optimism, if we keep putting 350 on the board we won’t come second too often.”
