UNBELIEVABLE! ODI champions England score 498/4 vs Netherlands, register highest total in format

Eoin Morgan-led England have etched their name in history books by registering the highest ODI total on Friday (June 17), atVRA Cricket Ground, Amstelveen. Being asked to bat first on a batting-friendly track,England big-hitters made the most of the Netherlands' inexperienced bowling line-up as the current ODI champions have broken their own record and put on a mammoth total of 498/4in 50 overs.

Thus, the world champions fell agonisingly short of the 500-run mark by just two runs. The foundation was laid for a big score, despite Jason Roy felling for 1, with an unbelievable 222-run second-wicket stand between centurions Phillip Salt (125) and Dawid Malan (122). The former struck at 131.18, with 14 fours and three sixes, whereas the left-hander Malan returned with a strike rate of 114.68. What followed was more mayhem for the hosts as in-form Jos Buttler and big-hitter Liam Livingstone -- both coming from a splendid IPL 2022 season -- smacked the bowlers to all parts of the ground.

With as many as 26 sixes overall, England also created a record for hitting most maximums in an ODI innings. Interestingly, the next two slots also belong to Morgan-led Three Lions.

Buttler ended with a mouth-watering 162 not out, with seven fours and 14 sixes at a strike rate of 231.43, whereas Livingstone was unbeaten on 66 off just 22 deliveries, striking at 300 with six fours and an equal number of maximums. This also became the third-such instance where a team saw three batters reaching the triple-figure mark in an ODI inning.

En route to the highest ODI scoreof 498, England leapfrogged the record of the highest total of 481in 50-over cricket. In 2018, Morgan & Co. had gone berserk by scoring 481/6 in an ODI versus Tim Paine's Australia, at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. This time around, they have gone past their own total and are very much in line to touch the magical 500-run mark in the format.