Jonny Bairstow pulled Pakistan apart with an awesome array of power-hitting to rap out another World Cup warning.
His seventh ODI hundred was full of flicks, hoicks, sweeps and pulls over the legisde boundary and while the fans couldn’t get enough of it, the bowlers had their fill of it.
Jos Buttler wasn’t even in the team, and yet the clean hitting remained just as pristine in the six-wicket win that brought England the fifth highest successful run chase of all time with more than five overs to spare.
A target of 359 in 50 overs should take some doing, but opening pair Bairstow and Jason Roy made it more of a formality, leaving one to wonder who would want to be a bowler running into either of them right now in this brutal form.
“I was really pleased with it,” said Bairstow. “Coming back into English conditions after being in India you want to hit the ground running. It was good fun and it was nice to make the most of it.
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“Jason and I had a bit of a laugh out there, and really enjoyed each other’s success and hopefully we’ll get to keep doing that.”
Bearing in mind Bairstow also kept wicket in the first innings, this was a stunning effort although when he eventually chopped on to Junaid Khan for 128, he was so annoyed with himself he lashed out and hit the stumps before walking off.
It would be a shame for him to be penalised too much for the action, but match referee Richie Richardson may have no choice.
Bairstow added: “When you get into the position to make a big hundred for your country you get frustrated when you get out, you want to go on, but it is a good frustration.”
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Roy and Bairstow have only opened together in 26 matches, and yet they have already combined for seven century partnerships - an ever extending England record.
This one was worth 159 by the time Roy was caught at cover, but they scored at such a rate that the 135 runs they took from the first 15 overs has been bettered only once by the unlikely duo of Alastair Cook and Craig Kieswetter.
They should have been stopped in their tracks sooner when Saheen Afridi dropped a simple chance when Roy had made 21, instead he went on to make 76 from 55 balls until Asif Ali finally held on in the covers to stop the carnage.
Joe Root played a significant part in making 43 before being caught at mid off which cleared the way for Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Eoin Morgan to take the chase home.
