Top Five Highest Team Totals In ODI Cricket

Alex Hales goes ariel against Australia in 2018 (Twitter)

The introduction of T20s into the cricketing lore transformed the landscape of ODI matches. While totals in excess of 250 were once considered to be intimidating, the number has become a mere starting point in the format in today’s T20 era.

Employing enterprising stroke-plays to their innings, teams these days harbour a relentless desire of charting astonishing totals, leaving both opponents and spectators at the edge of their seats.

Highest Team Totals In ODI

England seems to be the biggest benefactors of this seismic shift in ODI batting. Time and again they have mounted record ODI totals with their aggressive brand of cricket, thus rewriting history books.

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With England dominating some of the biggest team records with their fearless approach, here at OneCricket we explore the top five highest team totals in ODI cricket history.

1. England vs Netherlands (498-4)

Liam Livingstone and Jos Buttler (Twitter)

At a time when 400-plus totals became a norm in ODIs, England exceeded expected barriers to mount nearly 500 in a 2022 game. During one of Eoin Morgan’s final captaincy assignments before retirement, the Englishmen pounded a hapless Netherlands attack for 50 straight overs in Amstelveen to amass 498-4.

English opener Phil Salt unleashed 122 from just 93 deliveries while Dawid Malan produced a near-classic 125 from 109. Jos Buttler, on the other hand, blasted 70-ball 162* to register his career-best ODI score in the game. Liam Livingstone’s six-laden 22-ball 66* also helped the cause as England broke their own 2018 record exactly four years later at the VRA Cricket Ground.

The total, as one can expect, turned out to be a match-winning one as Eoin Morgan and co. crushed the Dutchmen by 232 runs and set the tone of their 3-0 series win against their hosts.

2. England vs Australia (481-6)

Jonny Bairstow (Twitter)

Such was England’s batting aura at the time, that even World Champions Australia were not spared by the wrath of their aggressive onslaught. During one of the ODIs from Australia’s five-match tour to England in 2018, the hosts unleashed fury, unlike any seen before, as they massacred each of their guests’ bowlers with equal disdain.

Batting first, opener Jonny Bairstow and number three Alex Hales faced 92 deliveries each to produce breathtaking 139 and 147 respectively. Captain Eoin Morgan later piled on the Australian pain with a 30-ball 67 that further elevated his team’s total to a then-record 481-6.

The Englishmen eventually romped to an easy 242-run win, and a 3-0 lead that set the base of a 5-0 series sweep over their Ashes rivals.

3. England vs Pakistan (444-3)

Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler (Twitter)

England ushered early signs of their batting savagery back in 2016 itself, a year after their World Cup debacle in Australia. Picking visiting Pakistanis as one of their first victims, the Englishmen flogged the ‘Men in Green’ throughout 50 overs in an unprecedented run-riot in Nottingham, charting a then-record 444-3.

Remarkably, the innings featured Joe Root’s 85 at less than run-a-ball. Captain Eoin Morgan and future captain Jos Buttler more than made up for Root’s dots by blasting 147 combined unbeaten runs from just 78 deliveries. Meanwhile, Alex Hales at the top slapped his career-best 171 in the game, all while consuming only 122 deliveries in the process.

Bowlers completed the demolition job in the evening by folding up a Babar Azam-fuelled Pakistan side for 275 to script a 169-run win and a 3-0 lead for themselves.

4. Sri Lanka vs Netherlands (443-9)

Sanath Jayasuriya (Twitter)

Cashing-in on the newly-introduced 400-run ODI phenomenon, Sri Lanka piled up their own 443 just months after the format saw its first set of quadruple centuries through the famous 434-438 Australia vs South Africa game.

Sri Lankan heavyweights Sanath Jayasuriya and Tillakaratne Dilshan both plundered majestic centuries, with the latter of the two even remaining unbeaten till the end. Jayasuriya scorched the Dutchmen on their turf with 157 from 104 balls and was involved in a 149-run stand with Kumar Sangakkara. Mahela Jayawardene and co. won the contest by 195 runs in Amstelveen and took home the series 2-0.

5. South Africa vs West Indies (439-2)

AB de Villiers (Twitter)

Few ODI teams have been as thoroughly demoralized as the West Indies were at the hands of South Africa weeks prior to the 2015 World Cup in Johannesburg. Donning their annual pink jersey, hosts Proteas batted first and went on a rampage. Only their top three batters faced deliveries in the innings and each of them blasted their guests with unreal centuries.

AB de Villiers, lost in his own ridiculous zone, went berserk the moment he arrived at the crease in the team’s 39th over. To sum up his 59 minutes of mayhem on the day, the cricketer unfurled 149 from just 44 deliveries in an innings filled with 16 sixes and nine boundaries.

Moreover, the then South African captain raced to his 100 from just 31 balls to achieve the all-time record, one which stays true to this day.

West Indies’ competitive 291-7 held no weightage in the run-chase as they fell 148 runs short of their target.

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