LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – Australia’s middle order enforcer Josh Inglis said their depleted side will draw a lot of confidence after pulling off a record chase against England in their Champions Trophy opener on Saturday.
Inglis hammered an unbeaten 120 off 86 balls as Australia pulled off the biggest chase in a men’s tournament held by the International Cricket Council.
Australia entered the tournament without several frontline players, including captain Pat Cummins, but chased down a mammoth target of 352 with 15 balls to spare in a Group B humdinger.
“I am over the moon. It’s a great win,” player-of-the-match Inglis said.
“We knew it was going to be tough coming up against England. It always is.
“Coming up against 350 a lot of things have to go right to chase that down. Really pumped on a personal level, but for the guys out there it’s a great performance.”
Born in Leeds to English parents, Inglis combined in a 146-run stand with Alex Carey (69) to turn the match on its head.
After Carey departed, Glenn Maxwell chipped in with 32 not out off 15 balls relieving pressure on Inglis.
Asked what he discussed with Carey during his match-defining partnership, Inglis said, “He doesn’t really say anything when he bats, so it’s just cracking on with it and a few words here and there.
“I was honestly just trying to not look at the scoreboard too much.
“I thought we were going so well I was just trying to keep chipping away at it. We knew with Maxy (Maxwell) still in the shed if we didn’t leave him too much to bat, get him in the last 10 overs, there would always be a chance.”
Australia face South Africa in their next match in Rawalpindi on Tuesday.
“This gives us a lot of confidence in a short sharp tournament,” Inglis said.
“To go one from one is really important. We’ll recover and look forward to the next game.”
(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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