Lahore, Feb 22 (UNI) Leading England’s charge with the bat, opener Ben Duckett fired the highest-ever total in ICC Champions Trophy history during the Group B encounter against Australia.
Scoring 165 off 142 deliveries, Duckett overtook former New Zealand great Nathan Astle, who previously held the highest individual total and the first instance of a batter scoring 150 in the tournament’s history.
Lacing his fiery knock with a whopping 17 boundaries and three maximums, Duckett was eventually dismissed by Marnus Labuschagne in the 48th over.
With Australia having won the toss and opted to bat first, England were put on the backfoot after a couple of wickets in the powerplay from Ben Dwarshius.
Duckett then, combined alongside Joe Root to add 158 runs for the third wicket partnership. The duo seemed set to shift gears going into the second half of the innings before Adam Zampa removed Joe Root.
While Australia managed to take wickets at regular intervals at one end, Duckett continued to tick the scoreboard at the other, eventually managing to forge a record total in Lahore.