The previous record was 443, scored by Sri Lanka against the Netherlands in 2006.
At Trent Bridge in 2016, England won the toss and chose to bat. The first wicket went down with the score on 33, when Jason Roy was caught behind for 15. This brought Joe Root out to join Alex Hales, and these two put Pakistan's attack to the sword. They put on 248 for the second wicket, in 31.4 overs. Hales was finally out for 171, which was the highest ever score by an England batsman in an ODI – the previous record being Robin Smith's 167 not out against Australia, at Birmingham in 1993.
Root was out for 90 in the following over, which meant that England had two new batsmen out in the middle: Jos Buttler and Eoin Morgan. The score was 283 for 3, with twelve overs (72 balls) to go.
And what a twelve overs they were. Buttler scored just one run off his first seven balls, but he then scored 49 from the next 15 – including six sixes and three fours. It was the fastest ever 50 by an England batsman. With seven overs to go, England were 347 for 3.
Morgan's 50 came up four overs later, and it had taken only 24 balls – just two more than Buttler's.
With three overs left, England were on 405 for 3 and the record wasn't really on. The first ball of the 48th over went for six, but the second bowled Buttler all ends up. Then it was called a no–ball! The over ended up going for 24, and suddenly England were just 14 runs behind the record with two to go.
It wasn't to be as easy as it might have sounded. Only six runs came off Mohammad Amir's tenth over, and he finished with none for 72.
The 50th over was, if anything, even tighter. Buttler hit the first ball straight back down the wicket, but straight at Morgan – who managed to fend it off with a glove. No run.
Just two runs came off the next four balls, and with one ball left England were on 440. Olny a boundary would do. But Buttler was up to the challenge; it was a slower ball, and he hit it over extra cover for four. Buttler finished on 90 not out, and Morgan on 57 not out; but the big news of the day was that England had made the highest ever innings score in a one–day international.
Pakistan made a spirited reply, but they lost wickets steadily. The ninth wicket went down in the 36th over with the score in 199, but Yasir Shah and Mohammad Amir then put on 76 for the last wicket, before Amir was caught and bowled by Chris Woakes with the score on 275 (and 7.2 overs left). Amir's 58 was the highest ever ODI score by a No. 11 Batsman.
The following day, Australia played Sri Lanka in Dambulla. David Warner and Aaron Finch put on 74 in 5.2 overs, before Finch (who'd scored 55 of them) was out lbw. The hundred came up in just 8.1 overs.
By this time there were three wickets down, but that's a run–rate of well over 12 an over – making a 50–over total of 500–plus a real possibility. Fortunately for England however, their record wasn't at risk; Australia were batting second, and Sri Lanka had set them a target of just 213. They reached it in exactly 31 overs, and won by six wickets.
© Haydn Thompson 2017