The fourth game of the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy brings us a spicy encounter between two age-old enemies Australia and England at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on February 22.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
ICC Champions Trophy 2025 | Match 4: Australia vs England | 14:30 IST, February 22
The reigning ODI world champions are coming into this tournament suffering with numerous injuries and a drubbing against Sri Lanka in their recently-concluded ODI series. The side from Down Under have injuries to key players, with skipper Pat Cummins and pacers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, along with all-rounder Mitchell Marsh, all ruled out of the tournament. This, along with the surprise retirement of Marcus Stoinis for ODI cricket, has forced Australia to call several backup players. Despite this, they have a number of experienced campaigners to call upon.
Back to his scintillating best, Steve Smith, fresh off a Test series win in Sri Lanka, will lead the Aussies in the Champions Trophy. Alongside Smith, Travis Head and Glenn Maxwell, who played a crucial role in Australia’s ODI World Cup triumph in 2023, will be key. Marnus Labuschagne, Alex Carey, and Adam Zampa are the other experienced names in this team.
England, on the other hand, are coming into the tournament following a whitewash against India. After an uninspiring run in the 2023 World Cup, where they finished seventh, England haven’t had the best of times in ODI cricket, having lost all of the four series in the format since. This, however, can be attributed to the absence of some big names; a full-strength England side can pose a good challenge to any opposition.
Jos Buttler, along with Joe Root and Harry Brook, will form the core of England’s batting order, with their swashbuckling opening pair of Ben Duckett and Phil Salt keeping the opposition on their toes from the get-go.
England are also not short of pace options, with the likes of Jofra Archer, Gus Atkinson, Brydon Carse, Mark Wood, and Saqib Mahmood all providing support, though the focus will be on the guile of Adil Rashid, whose leg spin will come in handy on the Pakistan and UAE pitches.
Given this is arguably one of the weakest Australian sides to participate in an ICC tournament in some time, England should walk into this contest with confidence and take the initiative to start their Champions Trophy campaign with a victory.
Fantasy XI: Jos Buttler, Philip Salt (c), Travis Head, Steve Smith (vc), Ben Duckett, Liam Livingstone, Glenn Maxwell, Nathan Ellis, Adam Zampa, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood
Venue: Lahore, Pakistan
Winners Prediction: England
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