England's highest ODI scores: A look back at their greatest hits since 2015 World Cup
Record scores, most sixes, fastest fifties; England's best ODI innings
Wednesday 19 June 2019 14:44, UK
England fell just three runs short of scoring 400 for a staggering fifth time in the last four years in their 150-run thrashing of Afghanistan on Tuesday.
Plenty of records tumbled at Old Trafford, with Eoin Morgan - who has been at the heart of England's white-ball transformation since the last 2015 World Cup - smashing an ODI-record 17 sixes on his way to 148 runs from 71 balls.
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England's 397 against Afghanistan was their biggest ever total at a World Cup, and good enough for sixth spot on their highest ODI scores.
Here, we look back on the top five - all coming in the last four years...
1) Aussies spanked for record score
England 481-6 beat Australia 239 all out by 242 runs, Trent Bridge, 2018
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Four-hundred-and-eighty-one! 481! And it should really have been 500!
England didn't just break the record ODI score of 444 - set by themselves only two years prior against Pakistan, also at Trent Bridge (but we'll come to that...) - they utterly obliterated it.
Alex Hales (147 off 92 balls) top-scored, Jonny Bairstow (139 off 92) cracked his fourth ton in six ODIs, while captain Morgan (67 off 30) overtook Ian Bell as England's highest ODI run-scorer in recording the nation's fastest fifty, off just 21 deliveries.
Australia had no answer to England's brutal batting, which included a staggering 41 boundaries and 21 sixes. Andrew Tye received the most stick, his nine wicketless overs bringing up a very unwanted century, while the Aussie batsmen could only muster 239 in reply, bowled out in the 37th over as they suffered their heaviest ODI defeat and England clinched their biggest-ever victory (on their way to a 5-0 series whitewash).
What they said… Ricky Ponting: "As good as the wicket was, to score 481, we saw a batting masterclass there from Bairstow, Roy and Hales. I think we saw something pretty special.
"Australia didn't get anywhere near this being a close game, but maybe the bowlers could have adjusted a bit earlier, maybe they could have bowled more slower balls early on, tried the around the wicket option earlier on."
2) Hales hits high score
England 444-3 beat Pakistan 275 all out by 169 runs, Trent Bridge, 2016
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Brutal. Unforgiving. Explosive. Exhilarating.
Hales ignited an historic day by blasting 171 off 122 balls - a then-record score by an England batsman in ODIs, beating Robin Smith's 23-year-old record (since bettered by Jason Roy's 180 against Australia at the MCG in 2018).
Pakistan, sloppy in the field from the off, were steam-rollered as Hales - dismissed off a Wahab Riaz no-ball on 72, then dropped by Azhar Ali on 114 - Joe Root, Jos Buttler and Morgan ran amok. Root's (85) fifth successive fifty was lost amid the spectacular hitting of his team-mates, as was Buttler's (90no) then record fastest fifty for England, off 22 balls.
Wahab conceded 110 off his 10 overs, the second worst return in history, and Pakistan were well beaten before last-man Mohammad Amir blazed a crackerjack half-century of his own off 22 deliveries - his 58 the highest score by a number 11 batsman in ODIs. A remarkable end to a truly remarkable day.
What they said… David Lloyd: "A chap on social media said before it all kicked off that "England are going to get 280" and I replied: "I think they'll get 350" but as they motored along you could see it was going to spiral out of control for Pakistan.
"Hales, on his home ground, made the most of some inviting boundaries and a pitch as flat as a pancake, on which a bowling side becomes absolutely powerless.
"The number of fours and sixes was breath-taking on what was a real batters day. The next question, which crops up on social media all the time, is when will a team score 500? It will definitely, definitely happen, trust me, if there's a perfect storm of conditions, pitch and boundaries."
3) Buttler blasts battling Windies
England 418-6 beat West Indies 389 all out by 29 runs, Grenada, 2019
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A career-best 150 from Buttler catapulted England beyond 400 once more on Wednesday, as England smashed an ODI-record 24 sixes in a total of 418-6 against the West Indies in Grenada.
But, incredibly, it almost wasn't enough as Chris Gayle's own brutal display of six-hitting - 162 off 97 balls - helped take the Windies to within 30 runs of a famous victory before Adil Rashid (5-85) ultimately polished off the lower order by taking four wickets in five balls - such drama!
As for Buttler's earlier fireworks, England's dynamic stroke-maker Buttler accelerated remarkably from 45 off 42 balls to 150 off 76 - his 12th maximum seeing England to the ODI record sixes tally - before he was bowled 77th ball by Carlos Brathwaite (50 off 36), who himself would later play a role with the bat.
Hales (82) and Bairstow (56) too pitched in with runs for England, while Buttler also shared in a sensational 204-run fourth-wicket partnership with captain Morgan (103).
What they said… Stuart Broad: "He's a strong guy but what was amazing about this innings - I know when I think about Jos, I think about scoops and reverse sweeps - but his sixes were over midwicket, straight and were all strength and power. We're not talking about [the ball going] 60m here. We're talking 80-100m and that's just breath-taking.
"Jos has this consistency to his ball-striking. It's quite rare; AB de Villiers is someone who springs to mind. To get 150 off 77 balls - they are freak innings."
4) NZ visit kickstarts England ODI revival
England 408-9 beat New Zealand 198 all out by 210 runs, Edgbaston, 2015
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When Roy fell to the first ball of the series in England's first ODI (barring a washed out game in Ireland) following on from an embarrassing group-stage exit in the 2015 World Cup, it looked like a case of 'same old England' but, 49.5 pulsating overs later, the entire complexion of England's one-day capabilities was transformed.
Buttler (129) and Joe Root (104) blasted centuries - off 66 balls and 71 balls respectively - as the hosts clubbed their way to their highest one-day total of 408-9, eclipsing their previous best of 391-4 against Bangladesh in 2005.
The fact that at the time Buttler and Root's efforts were the second and fourth-fastest tons by Englishmen in ODI cricket, and that those marks have since slipped to ninth and 12th, respectively, shows just how far the team have come on their way to No 1 in the world and in being tipped as pre-tournament favourites for the 2019 World Cup.
What they said… Sir Ian Botham: "This is probably the best I've seen any England one-day side bat. This was a 'new England' - they came out with nothing but positive thoughts with the bat and the ball so it could be a really exciting time in a format that England have really underperformed in."
"If you're going to compete with the best in this format of cricket, these are the kind of scores you've got to be thinking of."
5) Just falling short of 400
England 399-9 beat South Africa 250-5 by 39 runs (D/L method), Bloemfontein, 2016
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England have made such a habit of hitting 400 since that first instance against New Zealand four years ago, that it almost a greater shock when, after another dynamic display of hitting, they fall just shy of the mark - as they did on this occasion in South Africa.
England found themselves 130-2 in the 18th over thanks largely to a boundary-laden 48 from Roy and 57 from Hales, but rather than stick to their usual batting order, the tourists showed a new-found flexibility by promoting Buttler up to No 4, above regular incumbent Morgan. The switch paid dividends as nailed another ODI ton, this one from 73 deliveries.
Buttler (105 off 76) clubbed 11 fours and five sixes before while sharing stands of 97 with Root (52) and 54 with Ben Stokes (57) as England notched their best overseas ODI total - a mark since bettered by Buttler and co in the Caribbean.
In reply, South Africa and Quinton de Kock (138no), in particular, were stopped in their tracks by a match-ending downpour after 33.3 overs but Buttler's biffing, allied with a three-for for Moeen Ali and a cracking catch from Stokes to oust AB de Villiers, had put the away side just about in control. But the hosts would have the last laugh, inflicting a rare series defeat on England, winning 3-2.
What they said… Jos Buttler: "It gives us huge confidence to score nearly 400. This group of players, we've been challenging ourselves and pushing ourselves for a number of months now.
"At times, we'll get it wrong and probably be all out for 280 in 40 overs, but this is another great step forward for everyone to start this way in a series overseas against a very good team."
