Hales storm
Hales leads record-breakers
ALEX HALES led the way as England went on a record-breaking rampage against Pakistan at Trent Bridge yesterday.
The opener hit 171 – the highest by an England batsman in a 50-over game – as Eoin Morgan’s side smashed a WORLDRECORD 444-3 in the Royal London clash.
England won by 169 runs to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
ALEX HALES hit the heights but Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler were not far behind.
The trio combined to produce a brutal display that deservedly set a new world record – and destroyed Pakistan into the bargain.
Notts opener Hales looked to have given his home crowd at Trent Bridge an afternoon to remember when he hit 171, beating Robin Smith’s record score for an England batsman in 50-over cricket of 167, set way back in 1993.
Best
But skipper Morgan and Buttler managed to top that by hammering a demoralised attack to all parts of the ground in a partnership of 161 in 12 overs as England sealed the Royal London series 3-0 with two to play.
Buttler, whose 22-ball 50 was also an England record, clubbed the last ball for four to take England to 444-3, one better than the previous mark set by Sri Lanka against the Netherlands just over 10 years ago.
It also comfortably surpassed England’s best effort in this form of cricket, a meagre 408-9 against New Zealand last summer, with the 16 sixes along the way another best for Morgan’s men.
Man-of-the-match Hales revealed afterwards that he didn’t know he’d broken the record but preferred to focus on the team performance.
“I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential as a team. We’re still learning,” he said.
But they dished out quite a lesson after the day started with Jason Roy going early, paving the way for Hales to cut loose.
He was caught off a no-ball on 72, dropped on 114 and survived a review on 165 but the 27-year-old right-hander passed Smith’s score by pulling Hasan Ali to the mid-wicket boundary.
The same bowler trapped him lbw with the next delivery to end a secondwicket stand of 248 with Root, who fell soon after for 85. But the pain was far from over for the Pakistan bowlers.
The tourists made a token effort to chase the target but a three-wicket burst by Chris Woakes put paid to any possibility they might get close.
Hales even managed to drop a catch and the only other point of note for England saw Ben Stokes taking a wicket in his first bowl since his recent calf injury.
Ironically the last word – and record – went to Mohammad Amir, whose 58 is the highest score by a number 11 in ODI history. He helped his side to 275 and meant they only lost by 169 runs.