A year and a half ago, right after the 2015 World Cup debacle, if someone had said England would be one of the better teams in ODI cricket and would also post a world record score, that someone would have been given the "you are out of your mind" look. However, realising the need for change, the England selectors went with a limited-overs specialist team and with Eoin Morgan coming into his own as captain, the results picked up.
England's ascent into one-day stardom culminated in a wonderful day out at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, when they broke Sri Lanka's decade-old record of 443 for nine against the Netherlands by bashing Pakistan for 444/3, the highest ever score in an ODI game. Wahab Riaz, the man who tortured Shane Watson in that World Cup last year with one of the best ODI spells you will ever see, went for 110 runs in his 10 overs, the second highest ever in one-day internationals.
The chief architect of that demolition job was Alex Hales, who plundered 22 fours and four sixes in his 171 from 122 balls – again, another record, the highest individual score by an Englishman, beating Robin Smith's 167 from way back in 1993.
The result was always going to be England's once that huge score was posted, with Pakistan folding for 275 in 42.4 overs, handing the hosts a 169-run win.
It looked like it would not be Pakistan's day from the first few overs, when misfields allowed England momentum and once Hales hit his stride, despite his opening partner Jason Roy's wicket in the sixth over, it was carnage at its ODI best.
Hales and Joe Root (85, 86b, 8x4) put on a 248-run partnership in under 32 overs for the second wicket, which set the game up brilliantly for Morgan and Jos Buttler to plunder boundaries. Buttler is one of the best in the sport when it comes to final-over hitting, and this innings of his was a thing of beauty.
The right-hander scored the fastest 50 by an Englishman, off just 22 balls, and ended up unbeaten on 90 (51b, 7x4, 7x6), while Morgan added 57 from 27 balls (3x4, 5x6) as England crossed the previous world record mark by a single run.
Pakistan were never in the game in the chase, losing three wickets in the first ten overs, with opener Sharjeel Khan (58, 30b, 12x4, 1x6) and No.11 Mohammed Amir (58, 28b, 5x4, 4x6) the only ones to make half-centuries.
The victory in the third ODI also means England have taken the five-match series 3-0 and the way they are playing at the moment, you wouldn't put it past them to complete a whitewash.
