Hussain: England impress but Buttler can't afford another poor tournament

5 hours ago 1

Nasser Hussain believes England were impressive despite being stunned by Australia's ICC tournament-record run chase of 352, but skipper Jos Buttler cannot afford another poor tournament.

There were plenty of highlights in England's Champions Trophy opener despite the result being a five-wicket loss, with Ben Duckett hitting a stellar 165 off 143 balls, a new Champions Trophy record, to help Buttler's side set an imposing target of 351-8.

He also had a strong partnership with Joe Root (68) in a 158-run stand for the third wicket, things all seemingly going the way of England in Lahore.

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The positivity continued into their bowling attack too early on, with Jofra Archer accounting for Travis Head (6) and a fiery, fast opening spell from Mark Wood (1-75) the undoing of Steve Smith (5).

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Australia's Josh Inglis lifts a slower ball over midwicket to reach his century in 77 balls against England in the ICC Champions Trophy.

However, as Archer (1-82) had numerous spells off the field seemingly suffering with cramp, and Brydon Carse (1-69 off seven overs) too looked troubled by a niggle, things began to unravel and dropped catches played their part, leading to Alex Carey (69 off 63) and Josh Inglis (120no off 86) sharing in a match-winning 146-run partnership.

"There are a lot of good things today. From a lot of the performances I've seen in bilateral series, their win percentage has dropped to 29 per cent," Sky Sports Cricket's Hussain said.

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Jofra Archer misses a catch at deep midwicket, giving Alex Carey the chance to reach his 11th ODI half-century, with back-to-back boundaries from Josh Inglis completing a nightmare spell for the fast bowler.

"They are way down from where they need to be. They have played poorly but today they played good cricket and it will hurt because they would have felt at times today, they could win.

"But coming up against Australia, Buttler will be down, he is under pressure, he cannot afford another poor tournament.

"He will have to lift himself, his own game, if Buttler and Liam Livingstone finished properly, they may have got 380 and that might have been a bridge too far for Australia.

"It's a very difficult period for Buttler, that's the game, that's being captain."

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Big breakthrough for England as Matt Short drives straight back to Livingstone who takes a good low grab to his left.

Although batting was the talk of the encounter, Hussain believes that the "similarity" of the bowling attacks and how Australia's bowlers outperformed England's will be an issue to address for England moving forward.

Indeed, he believes England's gamble of a batting-heavy side did not "pay off" and the balance of their side ended up the key issue.

"I think the makeup of the bowling attacks were very similar. Four frontline bowlers and they would mix and match two or three bowlers to get your through 10 overs," he added.

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England pace duo Mark Wood and Jofra Archer strike early to remove Travis Head and Steve Smith in their Champions Trophy match against Australia.

"However, the difference between the two sides was that Steve Smith and his bowlers did it better.

"How many of the Australian bowlers had a bad day? They all kept Australia in the game. The problem with that is if one bowler has a bad day, then you have nowhere to go as a captain. So Carse has a bad day and Archer is on and off the field.

"Australia's gamble paid off but England, with that balance of the side, you can't afford that to happen."

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Zampa strikes for Australia as he traps Root lbw with a googly that was just clipping leg.

Buttler remaining 'optimistic' despite tough defeat

Buttler has insisted England still have "optimism and belief" despite their one-day woes continuing after succumbing to Australia's record victory.

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Watch the moment Ben Duckett reached his century against Australia.

England's 17th loss in their last 24 ODIs, including all of the last five, leaves them likely needing to beat Afghanistan and South Africa in their last two group stage contests to reach the semi-finals.

"The longer (the losing run) goes on, the closer you get to winning and the optimism and belief is very much there in the team," Buttler said.

"Sometimes you put in a really good performance but the opposition are desperate to win and can play well, too. It was a fantastic chase and Josh Inglis played a brilliant innings.

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Nasser Hussain believes the Champions Trophy is a big tournament for captain Jos Buttler after England's recent struggles in white-ball cricket.

"To put 350 on the board, I thought was a great effort. You have to be proud of the way we performed and give credit to the opposition for just being a little bit better and getting over the line.

"We'll let the dust settle on this, (and then) we'll plan well, keep the boys upbeat, dust ourselves down and go again. The way this competition is set up, every game is a must-win."

Duckett: I feel pretty flat

Next up for England in the Champions Trophy is a clash with Afghanistan and record-breaker Duckett admits he feels pretty "flat" following the loss to their rivals but will be ready to go again on February 26 with the short turnaround ahead.

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England's opener Ben Duckett says he is happy to have scored runs but it's never the same in a losing cause following defeat against Australia.

"I feel pretty flat right now. I'm happy to have scored runs but it's never the same in a losing cause," Duckett said.

"You have to give Australia credit. It felt like we were one or two wickets away from winning easily.

"The one thing I spoke about was keeping the stumps in play. At the back end of our innings, it felt impossible to hit sixes.

"We were happy halfway, losing the toss and getting 350. We couldn't have started better.

"We were unsure how much the wicket was going to change, we tried the same thing as them but it doesn't work the same at night.

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Marnus Labuschagne claims Ben Duckett’s crucial wicket! A low-bouncing short ball traps him LBW as he misses the pull.

"We thought we were in a good position in the game. There were certain moments we will talk about to improve.

"I think I was really excited I was going to open in format by Baz (Brendon McCullum). I want to score big hundreds in this format at the top of the order I'm delighted with the way I'm hitting the ball at the minute.

"Facing spin is a lot easier when you're 40no, coming in the middle overs it's a lot trickier. You're already in and the game is a lot easier then.

"I wasn't fluent at the top and it's probably my slowest powerplay.

"We're all feeling the same thing, we've lost the first game and Australia are always a side we want to beat. We're all going to be hurting, the good thing is it's a short tournament and we'll get ready for Afghanistan now."

What's next?

Pakistan face India as one of the most intense sporting rivalries in the world takes centre stage again, in the unusual setting of Dubai, despite Pakistan serving as tournament hosts.

And it's a vitally important game for Pakistan too after an opening defeat to New Zealand on Wednesday, and with India having won their opening Group A match against Bangladesh - watch live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8.30am, Sunday, ahead of play starting at 9am UK time.

In Group B, England are next in action on Wednesday when they face Afghanistan, also in Lahore, while Australia face South Africa in Rawalpindi a day earlier on Tuesday - both matches also live on Sky Sports Cricket.