ENG vs AUS 2018: We Saw a Batting Masterclass there from England - Ricky Ponting

England hit world record total against Australia

England completely dismantled Australia by 242 runs in the third One-Day International on Tuesday to take an unassailable three-nil lead in the five-match series.

It was an absolute carnage at Trent Bridge, as the world number one ODI side scored a record 481 for six – the highest-ever ODI total.

Whirlwind centuries from Jonny Bairstow and Alex Hales, plus a 21-ball half-century from Eoin Morgan helped England eclipse the 444 for three they made at the same venue against Pakistan two years ago. Overall, England thrashed 41 fours and 21 sixes.

Bairstow smashed 139 – his fourth ODI century in six games – while Hales hit 147. Bairstow’s knock came off just 92 balls and contained 15 fours and five sixes. On the other hand, Hales hit 16 fours and five sixes during his 147-run knock. The Australians then failed to deliver with the bat. On a good batting pitch, they were all out for 239 in 37 overs.

Ponting questions Australia’s plans

And while it was a belter of a pitch and Australia’s attack was depleted, former Aussie skipper, Ricky Ponting took nothing away from the English batsmen for scoring almost 500 runs. The batting legend lavished praise on the English batsmen.

“As good as the wicket was, to score 481, we saw a batting masterclass there from Bairstow, Roy and Hales,” he told Sky Sports.

“Eoin Morgan gets the fastest one-day international fifty for England. It was special batting. Yes, it’s a depleted Australian bowling attack, we can accept that, but I think we saw something pretty special today.

“It just looks like Bairstow’s bat is about two foot wide at the moment, he’s just not missing the middle of the bat, and he’s making it look very, very easy.

“Alex Hales comes in on the back of an outstanding opening partnership and was able to play with unbelievable freedom because his team is never going to get into any trouble,” he added.

At the same time, Ponting questioned why it took the Australian bowlers until the closing stages of the innings to adapt their plans.

Four of the eight bowlers used by Tim Paine conceded more than ten runs per over. Andrew Tye was the most expensive; conceding 100 in his nine overs.

“We didn’t get anywhere near this being a close game today, but maybe the Australian bowlers could have adjusted a bit earlier, maybe they could have bowled more slower balls early on, tried the around the wicket option earlier on,” he said.

“Even looking back to the first six or seven overs of the Australian bowling innings, they had two slips in place for quite a while. It was evident after the first over that the ball wasn’t going to move.”

“Sometimes you’ve just got to accept what you’ve got and be ultra-defensive from the start, put a few more fielders in front of the batsman’s face and see if you can create a bit of pressure that way. Play on the batsman’s ego to a certain degree and make him hit it through five guys on the offside,” he added.

The fourth match of the series will be played on Thursday.