England one-day captain Eoin Morgan said “the sky’s the limit” for his record-breaking side, with a total of 500 firmly in their sights after their rout of Australia on Tuesday.
Morgan’s men posted a new all-time one-day international (ODI) record of 481-6 at Trent Bridge en route to a 242-run thrashing of their archrivals to go an unbeatable 3-0 in the five-match series.
Man of the match Alex Hales top-scored with 147 on his Nottinghamshire home ground, just as he had done when making 171 in England’s 444-3 — the previous ODI record total — against Pakistan at Trent Bridge two years ago.
Photo: Reuters
Opening batsman Jonny Bairstow made 139, his fourth hundred in six ODIs that included a century in a shock loss to Scotland just before this series.
Morgan, who missed the second ODI in Cardiff, Wales, on Sunday with a back spasm, smashed England’s fastest fifty at this level, off just 21 balls.
“I think [we’re] definitely very close [to 500],” Morgan said. “In the position we found ourselves today, with six overs to go, we’d have never imagined — certainly after that game against Pakistan — that we’d come close, pass, maybe stare down the barrel of scoring 500.”
“The sky’s the limit with these guys,” Morgan added after England, next year’s Cricket World Cup hosts, cemented their place at the top of the ODI rankings in style.
England might well have broken the 500-barrier had they not lost both Hales and Morgan, who put on 124 for the fourth wicket, off successive balls in the 48th over.
“When Morgs came out, he said: ‘If we’re ever going to [get 500], now’s the time’ — but we didn’t quite get there,” Hales told Sky Sports.
Former England captain Michael Atherton, commentating for Sky, labeled the match a “perfect storm,” as a talented England batting lineup were able to make the most of a good pitch on a ground with relatively short boundaries, while facing an inexperienced attack.
World champions Australia were without their injured Ashes-winning fast-bowling trio of Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins and Josh Hazlewood.
Their hopes of chasing down a daunting target were not helped by the absence of two of the world’s best batsmen, Steve Smith and David Warner, after the former captain and his deputy were given year-long bans by Cricket Australia for their roles in a ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town.
Even with Smith and Warner, Australia might have struggled to avoid what became their heaviest defeat at this level, in terms of runs, and England’s largest win.
England spinners Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali shared seven wickets as Australia were dismissed for 239 with 13 overs to spare.
“What was most pleasing was the level of intensity we operated at, and continued to operate at throughout the whole game,” said Morgan, who hopes to lead England to a maiden World Cup title next year.
For Australia captain Tim Paine, the hurt was even worse than the blow to the face he suffered while keeping wicket in Cardiff.
“It’s tough. I thought I had some headaches in Cardiff after 25 overs when I hit my head, but I had a few more out there today to be honest,” he said after Australia’s 14th defeat in 16 completed ODIs. “I’ve been playing cricket since I was a kid and that is the hardest day’s cricket I have ever had in my life.”
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