Steve Smith’s Australia made a spectacular start to the Champions Trophy, beating England by 5 wickets at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. Notably, the Kangaroos weren’t even at full-strength, missing key players such as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Marcus Stoinis, but they still showed how to perform under pressure.
Australia vs England Champions Trophy 2025 highlights:
Australia captain Steve Smith won the toss and elected to bowl first at the Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore. The Aussies made a positive start, taking the early wickets of Phil Salt and Jamie Smith in the first six overs. But the trouble was only just about to begin as Ben Duckett and Joe Root showed their class in a 158-run partnership. While Root (68 off 78 balls) fell short of a century, Duckett was in no mood to let the arch-rivals off the hook, smashing the Kangaroos all over the park in his 165-run knock.
However, with wickets falling at regular intervals, England were unable to sustain the momentum and eventually posted a total of 351 runs in their 50 overs.
In reply, the Aussies also got off to a shaky start, losing Travis Head and captain Steve Smith in the first five overs. From then on, however, Marnus Labuschagne and Matt Short built a partnership that lasted until the 20th over to steer their team out of trouble. After the wickets of Labuschagne and Short in quick succession, Josh Inglis (120 off 86 balls) and Alex Carey (69 off 63 balls) took the attack to England’s bowlers and ensured the match could only go one way. Eventually, the Aussies wrapped up the match with relative ease, having 15 balls to spare while Glenn Maxwell and Josh Inglis remained not out.
