Hales Going At Pace! Now We Can Reach The Magic 500

Hales going at pace! Now we can reach the magic 500

- Chris Stocks

WHERE do this England side go next after smashing a world-record 481-6 against a shell-shocked Australia in Nottingham?

Alex Hales, who bludgeoned 147 from 90 balls, believes this team, who beat their own record of 444-3 scored against Pakistan on this ground two summers ago, can now target 500.

Surrey still have the highest total in the history of 50-over cricket having racked up 496-4 against Gloucestershire in the 2007 Friends Provident Trophy.

But it says something that England probably should have surpassed that here.

Jason Roy threw away his wicket on 82 with a sloppy run out, Jonny Bairstow made an entertaining 139 from 92 balls.

But after, arguably, the biggest hitter of the lot, Jos Buttler, made just 11 from 12 deliveries, his captain Eoin Morgan raced to his country’s quickest ODI fifty – in 21 balls – during an explosive 124run stand with Hales in just 9.5 overs.

So is 500 now a realistic goal for this group of players? “I think so,” said Hales. “The way the game is going now, the 50-over game has changed so much, even since the last World Cup. The standard has gone through the roof.