England and Australia arrived at Trent Bridge with England already 2-0 up and looking to seal the ODI series, while Australia were looking to stop the hosts. Australia is now 6th in the ODI rankings, their lowest in 34 years and their task at hand has become tougher with Steve Smith, David Warner, Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Mitch Marsh missing out in the series.
Australian captain Tim Paine won the toss and elected to field first, which might be a decision that he will rue for some time as England's openers Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow put on 159 for the first wicket before Roy got run out for 82 off 61 balls.
England didn't lose any momentum with Alex Hales joining Bairstow, and the latter completed his fourth ton in his last six innings, and 6th ton overall in ODIs, off just 69 balls. Bairstow's innings finally came to an end at 139 off 92 balls, which included 15 fours and 5 sixes.
Jos Buttler had a rare failure when he was dismissed for 11, but England's captain Eoin Morgan took it upon himself to nail the Australian attack that was reeling after the assault from England's top order. Morgan hit 67 off just 30 balls, while becoming the leading run-scorer for his team in ODIs.
Alex Hales went on to score his 6th ODI ton, and piled on the misery of the Australian bowling attack. He scored 147 off 92 balls and along with his captain, ensured England broke the record for the highest ever team total in Men's one-day internationals. The previous record was also held by England, when they scored 444/3 against Pakistan in 2016.
At one stage, 500 seemed to be on the cards but with some late wickets, Australia managed to 'restrict' England to 481/6 in their 50 overs. This is the second highest ever total in Men's List-A cricket, only behind Surrey's 496. The top ranked ODI side smashed 41 fours and 21 sixes in their innings.
Twitterati was in awe of England's batting performance. We have some of the best tweets shortlisted for you:
Declare England .......
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) June 19, 2018
Do you think England will become the 1st team to score 500 runs in an ODI in a single innings tonight?#ENGvAUS
— Shoaib Akhtar (@shoaib100mph) June 19, 2018
500 on the cards? #EngvAus
— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) June 19, 2018
So this pitch is flat????? https://t.co/sEgen24Rv0
— Dean Jones (@ProfDeano) June 19, 2018
I didn't think I would say this but I must. England, do think of bowlers! Not just Eng vs Oz (326 in 36) but India 'A' have hit 458 in 50 overs against some Leicestershire team.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) June 19, 2018
How the mighty have fallen!! Australia at sixes and sevens..literally ...England on course for half a thousand #EngVAus
— Ramiz Raja (@iramizraja) June 19, 2018
Super comeback by Australia to stop England from making 500 ???????????? where’s ODI cricket headed though... #EngvAus #SaveTheBowlers
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) June 19, 2018
Too see almost 500 runs scored in 50 overs in england is scaring me ..about the health of the game and where it’s going..Australian bowling getting treated this way whatever the conditions may be is not acceptable..A country of lillee,thompson,benaud.
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) June 19, 2018
Despite a belter of a wicket at Trent Bridge, fabulous batting performance by England to pose the highest ever ODI score -481/6. Brilliant innings from Roy, Bairstow, Hales, Morgan #ENGVAUS
— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) June 19, 2018
Would love to have seen @imVkohli in this chase..
— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) June 19, 2018
Unbelievable hitting ! Centuries to Hales, Bairstow and Tye #ENGVAUS pic.twitter.com/RJ7LKQPy3m
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) June 19, 2018