England have produced some astonishing batting feats in one-day cricket over the last 18 months, but they surpassed even themselves at Trent Bridge as they plundered the highest total in ODI history.
Alex Hales surged to England's highest ODI innings, finally knocking Robin Smith's unbeaten 167 against Australia in 1993 off the top spot, while Jos Buttler hit England's fastest fifty off 22 balls as they tallied a monstrous 444 for 3, when Buttler struck the final ball for four, to overtake Sri Lanka's 443 for 9 against Netherlands.
Having passed Smith's record in the 37th over, Hales was well on track for England's first ODI double - and even a dip at Rohit Sharma's record 264 - but he was lbw next ball for 171 off 122 deliveries to end a second-wicket stand of 248 with Joe Root. That, though, was far from the end of the mayhem.
Buttler, who holds the record for England's fastest hundred, off 46 balls in Dubai last year, went to his fifty with four sixes in five balls off Shoaib Malik - for a period, his own record was in danger - while Eoin Morgan chipped in with a mere 24-ball effort as 240 runs came off the last 20 overs.
Pakistan were atrocious. Misfields abounded, chances went down - Hales was dropped on 114, Morgan on 14 - and Wahab Riaz twice took wickets off no-balls when Hales was caught at deep square-leg on 72 then Buttler was bowled late on. Wahab finished with none for 110, the second-most expensive ODI figures behind Mick Lewis from the famous Johannesburg ODI in 2006.
Hales came into the match under some pressure after a difficult few weeks which included his outburst at the umpires during The Oval Test, as well as two low scores at the start of this series. In the build-up to this game he also spoke to the Nottingham Post about the difficulty of coming to a decision over whether to tour Bangladesh, amid the fear of giving up his Test place.
This innings does not mean questions about his longer-form game have been answered, but it does remove any slight doubt as to whether it would have a detrimental impact to his white-ball success. The bowling was often friendly, the fielding even more so, but it was a magnificent display: he reached 51 off 55 balls, the remaining 120 coming from 67 deliveries.
Hales' innings will have a little footnote to it when, on 72, he was given a life after pulling Wahab to deep square leg only for the TV umpire to call a no-ball under the current trial system. Then, on 114, Azhar Ali could not cling on to a drive at cover off Yasir Shah.
He was particularly severe on Wahab - just to compound his error - taking 44 off the 26 balls the left-armer bowled at him and he also plundered 19 off Azhar when the captain gave himself an exploratory over
Earlier this summer, against Sri Lanka at The Oval, Jason Roy fell within sight of Smith's record but, after Pakistan had reviewed an optimistic lbw shout, he clubbed his 22nd four over midwicket. A ball later and it was over, a yorker from Hasan Ali which would have taken leg stump.
Root fell moments later, having purred to 85 off 86 balls, when he edged Mohammad Nawaz after joining Geoff Boycott, Graham Gooch, Alec Stewart, Jonathan Trott and Hales with five consecutive fifties. Root arrived in the sixth over, when Roy was early on a pull, lobbing a catch to the keeper, and barely broke sweat while Hales broke Pakistan's spirits.
As in Dubai, when he came in during the 36th over, Buttler was again shunted up the order when Root departed at the end of the 38th. And, as in Dubai, he gave himself a few sighters - 1 off 7 balls - before cutting loose when he put Nawaz into the stands off consecutive deliveries.
That was just a taste of the treatment Malik would receive when Buttler deposited him for four sixes of varying distance in five deliveries. Such have been the frequency of Buttler's astonishing one-day displays that they should not really surprise, but it is impossible not to marvel at the 360-degree ability of the batsmanship. Plundering the offspin of Malik is one thing; the power he can generate when flat-batting near-yorkers for four is something else.
Morgan, having regained his touch in the first two matches, helped himself as well, having been given a huge helping hand when Yasir continued Pakistan's woeful fielding display by dropping a sitter a backward point: five of Morgan's next seven deliveries went either over or into the boundary.
Needing to score six off the final over to set a new high total seemed a formality, but Morgan and Buttler could not lay a bat on Hasan until Buttler connected with a smite through the covers to give put England top of the pile.
(espncricinfo)
