August 30, 2016. A record that stood for over 10 years was finally broken. England had turned a corner since the ICC World Cup 2015 and had become a strong team in the limited-overs set up.They achieved a new high when they also set the record for the highest team score in the ODIs. This feat came against Pakistan at Trent Bridge. Since the end of the 2015 World Cup, England had won 9 out of their 16 matches and were already 3-0 up in this series as well. A win in this match would have taken them closer to a whitewash.
The match
England had won the toss and elected to bat first. England openers Jason Roy and Alex Hales had been in good form for England that season, but Pakistan struck early by removing Roy for just 15. Pakistan were jubilant with that breakthrough, but little did they know that it would be the only thing they will be celebrating for the rest of the match.
Alex Hales and Joe Root then took the charge. Whatever Pakistan threw at England, they were ready. Fast bowlers, spinners or part-timers, they were smashed all around the park. Root and Hales put up a mammoth 248 runs for the third wicket. More importantly, Hales created another record, when he went past Robin Smith, to register the highest individual score for England in ODIs. His 171 included as many as 22 fours and 4 sixes. A proud moment Hales, who created a record for his national side on his county home ground.
Root too fell shortly for 85 off 86. From there, Jos Buttler and skipper Eoin Morgan took charge of the situation. They scored 12 sixes and 10 fours between them. Buttler finished unbeaten on 90 off 51, while Morgan remained 57 not out off 27. England needed 4 from the final ball of the innings to go past Sri Lanka’s 443 and Buttler was able to achieve that.
58 apiece from Sharjeel Khan and Mohammad Amir took Pakistan to 275 and they eventually fell short by 169 runs. However, Pakistan won the next match at Leeds and avoided a 5-0 whitewash.
Here’s the full England innings:
What happened next?
England lost the one-off T20I at Old Trafford. Azhar Ali was sacked as Pakistan ODI captain and Sarfraz Ahmed was handed the responsibility. England and Pakistan clashed in the semi-final stage of the ICC Champions Trophy 2017 next. Pakistan won that match comfortably by 8 wickets and progressed to the final. They took on arch-rivals India in the final. They won the match by 180 runs to claim their maiden Champions Trophy title.
Brief scores:
England 4443 in 50 overs (Alex Hales 171, Jos Buttler 90*; Hasan Ali 274, Mohammad Nawaz 262) beat Pakistan 275 in 42.4 overs (Mohammad Aamer 58, Sharjeel Khan 58; Chris Woakes 441, Adil Rashid 273) by 169 runs.
Man of the match: Alex Hales
