It was as if a popcorn machine had exploded: hot, sweet, oily grains flew back and forth to the delight of onlookers, while desperate owners randomly pressed buttons, wanting to stop. England’s highest international score in a day – a world record of 498 in four – destroyed the fading attack in the Netherlands when Joss Butler, Phil Salt, David Malan and Liam Livingston scored “Damn” in Amsterdam.
In innings so full of superlatives that it was difficult to know when it was best to have a quick scratch on the ankle, let alone leave to buy a drink, England hit 26 sixes – another record – in three and a half-hour blitz with short limits. Blink and you’ll miss Salt on the way to his top 100 in an English shirt, or Malan, who builds a carefully constructed tone, or Livingston, who entered the arena like a coil and finished with the fastest one-day fifty in England, of 17 balls.
But the most opening of all was Butler, whose IPL warm-up brought him 46 sixes, as well as awards for both the most valuable player and top scorer. It was safe to say that he had taken an eye on Amstelvin.
“Every time you manage to play like that and play like a team, it’s a great day,” Butler said, as softly as ever. “It’s the funniest environment I’ve ever played in. It was great to be back on a normal tour and not worry about balloons. “
England’s previous highest score was 481 against Australia at Trent Bridge in 2018, when Alex Hales and Johnny Bearstow fought in the hundreds and Jason Roy and Ioan Morgan generously joined. Hales and Bearstow did not fight for this tour for various reasons and neither Jason Roy, hit by his cousin Shane Sneiter for one in the second of the day, nor Morgan, lbw for a golden duck with a score of 407 for four, will bring much personal joy from the recordings them in the scorecard.
Butler broke England’s record by breaking a chip for six in the final inning of the inning, before Livingston finished four and six over midwick. It was such a day. They hadn’t quite reached the 500, but they had broken their own record, the highest ODI women’s record of 491 and Surrey’s domestic record of 50 over 496. The shocked Dutch players applauded England; they were good and real tango. Worse, they had won the throw and decided to play the cup.
Salt was igniting, hitting the ground and pulling with audacity and reaching 50 with four over the middle, his second ODI fifty in just his fourth game. He ran, reaching his age with a quick single, leaping into the air before taking off his helmet and hugging Malan tightly. He had the feeling that each ball was aimed exactly as planned, but three overs later he was out, trying to cut, but managed to overtake only Logan van Beek.
David Malan’s century makes him only the third player to score a hundred for England in all three international formats. Photo: Richard Heathcote / Getty Images
Butler came out with the other 20 overs – his favorite type of arithmetic. After 16 balls, he reached a careful 17, while Malan hung on the edge with 99. As Butler faced another 44 balls, he overtook Malan – 114 to 113 – in a passage consisting mainly of field players watching the rocket whistle. above their heads in the green bushes that surrounded the earth. It is estimated that Butler alone lost nine cricket balls, which is over 1,000 euros.
It was something of a superhero, although he was dropped at 37 in the long run, going for his fourth six from a Pieter Seelar over. The next over Malan reached his first hundred ODI for England – joining Heather Knight and Butler himself in the pantheon of English players for centuries in all three formats.
Until now, Butler had seen the ball as a huge Edam. Two spoons of successive deliveries from Bas de Lide, six over a pile of white hospitality tents. Six more in the trees. His hundred came from 47 balls, making him the second fastest ODI century by an Englishman. The fastest? Forty-six balls from Butler himself.
After Livingston arrived and bet the first full, which he faced in four sixes and two fours, a woman in a flowing orange kaftan and a generous cigarette asked, “Are you as good at bowling as you are at wadding?” The answer was almost, but not quite.
Setting an unenviable task, the Netherlands reached 50 in 58 balls, but this has already left them behind the required speed: 7.98 at the beginning of the inning, but ready to jump out of the blocks. Rhys Warm rejected the sparkling Max O’Dowd after an examination; Sam Qur’an, absent for months with a stress fracture, returned with nine left-handed skiers and two necks, while Moen Ali took three for 57.
By this time, some of the more than 6,000 people who had gathered in the four temporary grandstands on earth had retreated into the shadows. Others joined the long queues for beer as small cricket games erupted in places. The sun-tolerant sang along with the DJ’s fans.
This was England’s first ODI in 11 months. What can they do when they are warmed up properly?
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