JOIN USEngland captain Eoin Morgan set a new world record of 17 sixes in an individual one-day international innings as the World Cup hosts hammered Afghanistan by 150 runs on Tuesday.
Victory at Old Trafford saw favourites England go ahead of holders Australia to sit top of the World Cup group table on net run-rate.
Morgan’s six-hitting spree in his career-best 148 set the tone for England’s team total of 25 sixes, which was also a new ODI innings record. His innings was the centrepiece of England’s 397/6.
That was the highest total of the tournament so far and the largest England had made at any World Cup, surpassing their 386/6 against Bangladesh in Cardiff 10 days ago.
Even though at the bottom of the table, Afghanistan, suffering their fifth defeat in five matches, posted their highest World Cup total of 247/8 they were never up with the required run-rate.
There was a worrying moment when Hashmatullah Shahidi, on 24, was hit on the side of the helmet by a Mark Wood bouncer and fell to the turf.
But after several minutes’ on-field treatment, Shahidi resumed his innings in a new helmet.
Shahidi completed a gutsy 68-ball fifty on his way to 76, while his fourth-wicket stand of a partnership of 94 with Ashgar Afghan (44) was a record for any Afghanistan wicket at a World Cup. Earlier, Morgan, dropped on 28, dominated a third-wicket stand of 189 with Joe Root (88), whose contribution to their partnership was 43.
Leg-spinner Rashid Khan set an unwanted record with 0-110 in nine overs -- the most expensive return at a World Cup.
Morgan’s tally surpassed the record of 16 sixes in an ODI innings previously shared by India’s Rohit Sharma, South Africa’s AB de Villiers and West Indies’ Chris Gayle. He broke the record when he launched Gulbadin Naib for a flat straight hit over the Afghanistan captain’s head.
But the very next ball saw Morgan hole out off Naib to end a 71-ball innings that also featured four fours. His innings had 118 runs in boundaries.
England also set the ODI team record for sixes when Moeen Ali launched the penultimate delivery of the innings, from Zadran, over long-on.