19th June, 2018 saw one of the biggest run fests at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. It was the third One Day International of the series between England and Australia and England batsmen decided to make merry on a belter of a pitch. Two years back on the same ground they posted 444/3 against Pakistan, the highest team total in a men’s ODI match.
Australia won the toss and decided to field. Maybe they thought in such a batting friendly condition they would try to chase whatever total posted by England. They did not realize that this English batting line up can take things completely out of their reach and that’s what happened.
Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow added 159 runs in the opening wicket in around 20 overs. Roy was the aggressor but he was unfortunately run out by D’Arcy Short after scoring 82 off 61. Alex Hales joined Jonny Bairstow and the pair kept hitting. They added 151 runs in less than 15 overs and no Australian bowler was spared. Bairstow scored 139 off 92 with 15 fours and five sixes whereas Hales scored 147 off 92 balls with 16 fours and five sixes.
England reached 400 on the last ball of the 43rd over. With seven more overs to go and the type of hitting going on, even 500 was not out of reach. Even Eoin Morgan added 67 of 30 with three fours and six sixes but back-to-back wickets of Hales and Morgan in the 48th over ensured that England could only score 481/6 in their 50 overs.
For Australia, all the eight bowlers used went for at least seven runs per over with Andrew Tye giving away 100 runs in his nine overs. Young Jhye Richardson was the most successful; however, his three wickets cost 92 runs.
Australia did not have much energy left for a chase with a required rate of 9.64 for 50 overs. They lost regular wickets and despite a run rate nearing 6.5 were all out in the 37th over for 239. The victory margin was 242 and it was Australia’s biggest loss in their one-day cricket history.
