England registered the highest-ever score in ODI cricket history on Friday, thanks to Jos Buttler’s 70-ball unbeaten 162 and Liam Livingstone’s sensational 22-ball 66 not out on their way to a massive 232-run victory over the Netherlands here.

In addition to Buttler, Phil Salt (122) and Dawid Malan (125) scored centuries as England posted a mammoth 498/4 in 50 overs against the Netherlands in the first game of the three-match series on Friday at the VRA Stadium in Amsterdam.

The England team, led by Eoin Morgan, broke their previous record in men’s cricket when they scored 481 against Australia at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in June 2018.

The Three Lions also had the highest ODI score when men’s and women’s cricket were combined. New Zealand Women scored 491 points against Ireland Women in 2018. England also set a new record for the highest List A score ever. Surrey scored 496/4 against Gloucestershire at the Kennington Oval in London in April 2007.

In response, the Netherlands were all out for 266 in 49.4 overs, succumbing to a crushing defeat.

Following the dismissal of opener Vikramjit Singh for 13, fellow opener Max O’Dowd scored a 55, while Scott Edwards top-scored for the hosts with an unbeaten 72.

Musa Ahmed (21), Tom Cooper (23), Bas de Leede (28) and skipper Pieter Seelaar (25) all got starts but were unable to put together big scores as the Netherlands continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as they succumbed to the pressure of chasing the massive total.

Moeen Ali took three wickets for 57 runs for England, while David Willey, Reece Topley, and Sam Curran each took two wickets.

Earlier, England batters Philip Salt (122 off 93), Dawid Malan (125 off 109) and Jos Buttler (162 not out off 70) all scored centuries. Apart from them, Liam Livingstone batted brilliantly (66 not out off 22 balls) to help England set a new record total.

It was the third time a team had three players score hundreds in the same ODI innings. South Africa won both previous matches in 2015, with Hashim Amla, Rilee Rossouw, and AB de Villiers defeating the West Indies at Wanderers and Quinton de Kock, Faf du Plessis, and AB de Villiers defeating India at the Wankhede.

Buttler scored England’s second-fastest ODI century, smashing his way to the mark off 47 balls during his innings. He is now one of his team’s top three fastest bowlers, with 46 balls in 2015 and 50 balls in 2019.

He also became the second-fastest to score 150, trailing only South Africa’s AB de Villiers. De Villiers reached the century mark in 64 balls, while Buttler did so in 65 balls. Malan, on the other hand, became the third English player, after Buttler and Heather Knight, to score a century in both formats.

Meanwhile, Livingstone raced to 46 off 13 balls, closing in on AB de Villiers’ 16-ball record for fastest ODI fifty in Johannesburg in 2015, but he was caught by Boissevain at deep square leg off Snater and faced two dot balls.

He hit Snater’s next delivery for six to reach the milestone in 17 balls, narrowly missing de Villers’ mark but breaking England’s record for fastest ODI fifty.

(Inputs from IANS)