England smashed the world record of the highest-ever ODI total as they put up 498/4 during the first game of the three-match series against Netherlands on Friday in Amstelveen. The previous record was held by England too when they scored 481/6 against Australia on 2019. (More Cricket News)
Sent into bat first, England had the worst possible start losing opener Jason Roy in the second over itself. But what happened after that was absolute mayhem as Jos Buttler, Dawid Malan and Phil Salt scored respective centuries to stop two runs shy of five hundred.
Buttler, who continued his golden run from IPL 2022, smashed 14 sixes and seven fours en route to his 162 not out in 70 balls. It was maiden ODI tons for Malan and Salt. Malan’s 109-ball 125 was studded with nine fours and three sixes.
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Salt 93 balls for his 122 which included 14 fours and three sixes. But that wasn’t the end. Liam Livingstone then added more misery to the Dutch bowlers, smashing the joint second-fastest fifty in ODI, off just 17 balls.
Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar used six bowlers in total, out of which four conceded eighty-plus runs. Philippe Boissevain was the most expensive, conceding 109 runs in his 10 overs without taking a wicket. England will play Netherlands in the second and third ODIs on June 19 and 22.
Netherlands — playing an ODI against England for the first time outside a Cricket World Cup — had only a few moments to savor amid a barrage of big-hitting from the tourists, which led to a number of balls being lost outside the stadium.
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Shane Snater bowled his cousin, Roy, to leave England 1-1 and Pieter Seelaar took two wickets off successive balls — including captain Eoin Morgan for a golden duck.
In reply, Netherlands fought hard through Max ODowd (55) and Scott Edwards' unbeaten 72 only to fall short by 232 runs. Moeen Ali too three wickets while David Willey, Reece Topley and Sam Curran got two each as the Dutch were bowled out for 266 in 49.4 overs.
