Hales 171 out of 444 for 3 as England seal series

England 444 for 3 (Hales 171, Buttler 90*, Root 85, Morgan 57*) beat Pakistan 275 (Sharjeel 58, Amir 58, Woakes 4-41) by 169 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details

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 to wrap up the series against Pakistan in overwhelming style.

On his home groundAlex 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 to overtake Sri Lanka’s 443 for 9 against Netherlands in 2006.

Needing to score six off the final over to set a new high total seemed a formality, but Buttler and Eoin Morgan struggled to lay a bat on Hasan Ali until Buttler connected with a smite through the covers off the last ball to give put England top of the pile.

Pakistan, unsurprisingly, did not get close, bowled out for 275 although Mohammad Amir joined in the batting fun with his own 22-ball fifty, the highest score by a No. 11 in ODIs. Yet while it was another one-sided encounter in this series England’s batting had been a sight to behold. Their landmarks, personal and collective, have been regular since the start of last summer.

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 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 and then Buttler was bowled by another from Wahab late on. Wahab finished with none for 110, the second-most expensive ODI figures behind Mick …

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