LAHORE: England’s Ben Duckett and Joe Root kept their two-down team going against Australia with 132 runs in 20 overs in the fourth group-stage clash of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Saturday.
Duckett raced to his half-century in 50 balls while Root is also close to the 50-run mark.
The English side’s Phil Salt made an aggressive start in the opening over, striking a boundary and a towering six.
However, his stay at the crease was cut short in the following over after a stunning one-handed catch by Australia’s Alex Carey. The two wickets that fell so far were picked by Ben Dwarshuis.
At the 10-over mark, Jos Buttler’s men stood at 72-2, with Steve Smith’s Australian side keeping the pressure on early in the innings.
Earlier, Australia won the toss and opted to field first against their long-time rivals, England, in this high-stakes encounter.
Notably, the Kangaroos have had major injury concerns and top retirements ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025, and have gone with both wicket-keeper batters in their playing XI. As a result, onus will be on Steve Smith to guide the team to glory.
Playing XIs:
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Travis Head, Matthew Short, Marnus Labuschagne, Josh Inglis, Alex Carey, Glenn Maxwell, Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa and Spencer Johnson.
England: Jos Buttler (captain), Ben Duckett, Phil Salt, Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Brydon Carse, Adil Rashid, Jofra Archer and Mark Wood.
Umpires: Chris Gaffaney (NZL) and Joel Wilson (WIS).
TV umpire: Kumar Dharmasena (SRI).
Match referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM).
