Poor Netherlands

They met the World Champions of cricket today and it was a massacre:

An ODI world-record total of 498 for 4, built on Buttler's brutal 162 not out and further centuries from Dawid Malan and Phil Salt before Liam Livingstone smashed 66 from just 22 balls, left Netherlands facing an implausible target after winning the toss on an exceptional surface.

It beat England's own record for the highest ODI total of 481 for 6, made against Australia in 2018, and, despite spirited knocks from Max O'Dowd and Scott Edwards, who helped them come within two balls of seeing out their 50 overs, Netherlands lost by 232 runs.

The scary thing is that England wasn't at full strength! Bairstow and the legend were not in the team today. The Champions still have the most powerful batting order in the ODI world: Roy, Bairstow, Root, Stokes, Buttler, Malan, and Livingstone. A few of them can bowl as well.

England went into the 2019 World Cup as the favorites. They look even more fearsome for their title defense next year.