Ben Stokes sent out a World Cup warning to England’s rivals with a record-breaking 182 against New Zealand less than a month after reversing his ODI retirement.
Stokes, playing just his third 50-over match a year after walking away from the format, was in brutal form as he unloaded nine sixes and 15 fours on his way to the biggest score by an English batter.
The Test captain was England’s key man in 2019 and looks ready to reprise the role in India next month after blowing the one-day cobwebs away with a match-winning 124-ball innings that fired the hosts to 368.
New Zealand never got close, rounded up for 187 as the hosts closed out a 181-run thrashing to go 2-1 up with one game to play. The Black Caps managed just five more runs between them than Stokes thrashed on his own.
Jason Roy, the man who held the England record for more than five years since his 180 against Australia in Melbourne, was watching from the balcony as Stokes nudged him out of the history books.
The moment came in typically emphatic fashion, Stokes clobbering Ben Lister high over long-on, with Roy joining the crowd’s ovation with a smile on his face.
Roy had been pencilled in to make his comeback in the match but another bout of back spasms in the morning meant he was once again confined to the sidelines. With Harry Brook still angling to break into the 15-man World Cup squad, the timing could hardly be worse for an unpredictable niggle to emerge.
If there was one down side to Stokes’ first limited-overs century in six years it was the now familiar sight of him grimacing in pain as his chronic knee problems continued to hinder his movements.
Stokes has taken a calculated gamble that he can manage the condition in the weeks ahead but, even after a six-week post-Ashes lay-off, it was apparent that will not be an easy job.
Dawid Malan had a better time of it than Roy, scrubbing any lingering question marks next to his name with an accomplished 96 at opener. He shared a stand of 199 with Stokes after the pair were brought together in the third over at 13 for two and would have been good value for a century of his own.
His innings was less muscular than Stokes and he could not keep up with his partner’s furious strike-rate of 146.77 but Malan was a calm, authoritative presence at the top order despite dashing back from the birth of his second child to reclaim his spot. England are lucky to have him and any accommodation for Brook would surely have to come at somebody else’s expense.
The Yorkshireman was only edged out of the team in the first place by Stokes’ change of heart and the value of having him around was proved over and over again as he imposed himself on a side who will provide England’s first World Cup opponents in Ahmedabad.
Stokes’ timing was not perfect during his first 50 runs, throwing himself into powerful shots that relied more on will-power and brute force than touch and technique.
But he warmed to his task, taking just 32 balls to convert his half-century and 30 more to go from 100 to 150. His adaptability was on show throughout, with Lockie Ferguson cranking it up to 94mph at one stage only to be despatched repeatedly to the ropes as he strove for speed. At one stage he nonchalantly stepped inside the line of a short ball and helped it over his right shoulder for a one-bounce four.
When New Zealand took pace off, it got even uglier as Stokes hit Rachin Ravindra out of the attack with three sixes in two chastening overs. Once Malan was strangled down leg off a Trent Boult delivery so wayward it was initially called as a wide, New Zealand picked up wickets with enough regularity to bowl England out with 11 balls unused.
Boult, who began by dismissing Jonny Bairstow off the first ball of the match and had Joe Root playing on in his next over, finished in credit at five for 51 amid some messy figures.
Stokes finally departed in the 45th over, mis-hitting a low full toss from Lister two balls after beating Roy’s record.
The Kiwi chase never got off the ground, an excellent new ball spell from Chris Woakes reducing them to 37 for four. He took care of Will Young, Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell to suck the heat out of the contest.
The ground began to empty despite the best efforts of Glenn Phillips (72), with Liam Livingstone helping himself to three cheap wickets at the close.
ECB chief insists no decision made on Mott future
England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive Richard Gould has denied reports a decision has already been made on Matthew Mott's future as white-ball coach.
Mott's future has been called into question in the aftermath of England's failure to defend their T20 World Cup crown in the United States and West Indies, losing to India in the semi-finals.
Mott also oversaw England's calamitous 50-over World Cup campaign last year, as they lost six of their nine matches in India and crashed out in the group stage.
Reports earlier this week suggested the decision had already been made to dispense with Mott's services, with Eoin Morgan a contender to succeed him, though the former limited-overs captain has since said he has no interest in the role.
Asked by BBC Test Match Special if Mott's future had already been decided, Gould said: "That's not true. That's certainly not true.
"Matthew Mott is a really good guy and coach. He's got a great track record and it is the same with [captain] Jos [Buttler].
"We are always assessing options - that is what happens in high-performance sport, you are always assessing your options.
"You never want to be drawn into being given the dreaded vote of confidence or anything like that. Competitive sport always brings scrutiny and decisions.
"We'll constantly want to assess our options but we'll always want to do the right thing by the sport, the team and individuals."
West Indies grab three late wickets on day one as third Test against England in the balance
England lost three wickets in a dramatic end to day one of the third Test against West Indies, leaving them in a precarious position after restricting the tourists for 282.
Gus Atkinson finished with figures of 4-67, while Chris Woakes took 3-69 for England, as only a fine sixth-wicket stand from Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva saved West Indies from being bowled out for a much lower total.
But England, chasing a 3-0 series whitewash, let their dominant position slip when taking up the bat for the final 35 minutes, Zak Crawley (18), Ben Duckett (3) and Mark Wood (0) being dispatched as bowler Jayden Seales dropped them to 38-3.
Windies skipper Kraigg Brathwaite won the toss and chose to bat, leading his side to a solid start before a spell of three wickets in five overs before lunch put England on top.
Atkinson accounted for Mikyle Louis (26) and Alick Athanaze (2) on either side of Wood sending stumps flying with a full delivery to dismiss Kirk McKenize for 12.
Brathwaite's knock of 61 was brought to a halt shortly after the action resumed, the captain gloving Wood's leg-side ball to Jamie Smith as the tourists slid from 76-0 to 115-5 in 45 balls.
Holder (59) and Da Silva (49) then shared 108 to drag the Windies towards a respectable total, but things looked bleak for them when the latter feathered Woakes' ball through to Smith.
Having gone 30 overs without a wicket, England needed just 14 more to polish off the tail, the highlight being a terrific diving catch from Joe Root to send Gudakesh Motie (8) packing.
England were given just over half an hour with the bat to cap Friday's action, but any hopes of a serene finish were soon dashed.
Holder made two terrific catches off Seales' bowling, the first from Crawley's thick outside edge and the second to dismiss Wood for a duck, either side of Alzarri Joseph's cracking delivery accounting for Duckett.
That spell ensured what had been a good day for the hosts ended on a sour note, with the Windies sure to target quick wickets when the action resumes on Saturday.
Data Debrief: Atkinson and Seales dominate
This series began with all the focus on James Anderson as England's greatest-ever bowler bowed out at Lord's, but Atkinson has taken centre-stage since making his Test debut in the opening match and now has 20 wickets through five innings.
That is eight more than West Indies' Jayden Seales, the next-most prolific bowler in this series, has managed.
Seales was determined to have an impact on day one, though, and his two wickets at the death have set the stage for a far more competitive match than those England won at Lord's and Trent Bridge.
McAllister cannot see Klopp or Guardiola succeeding Southgate
Gary McAllister finds it hard to believe that either Jurgen Klopp or Pep Guardiola will succeed Gareth Southgate as England manager.
Southgate, who led England to back-to-back European Championship finals, ended his eight-year tenure following their defeat to Spain in the Euro 2024 showpiece.
The 53-year-old was often accused of a cautious approach despite only Walter Winterbottom (383) and Alf Ramsey (224) overseeing more England goals than his 213, with supporters wanting to see a more attack-minded manager take over.
And two of the names linked with the vacant position have been pioneers of Premier League football in recent years.
Klopp ended his nine-year stay at Liverpool in May to take a break from management, while some expect Guardiola to leave Manchester City at the end of his current deal, which expires next year.
The pair have won 653 games between them and shared 25 major honours during their time in England and could be seen as the ideal candidates to end the Three Lions' 58-year wait for silverware.
However, former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder McAllister believes Klopp and Guardiola are unlikely to become England's next manager.
McAllister, who played 57 times for his nation, believes supporters would prefer an English manager at the helm.
"I think people are linking Jurgen with the England job purely because he has experience working in the English Premier League," McAllister told Stats Perform.
"He's worked with elite players for many years now at Dortmund and at Liverpool. So people are putting two and two together.
"Personally, I don't see it happening and I think I also see that there were links to Pep Guardiola and I don't see Pep managing England either.
"It's hard for me to comment on this because I'm obviously not English, I'm Scottish.
"The people I speak to within the game, there is a feeling that the manager of England should come from St George's Park, which is the headquarters of English football, the FA and all the coaching programmes that they have there.
"Why would you have all this and then put a manager not from England in? I think most of the people in England are looking for an English manager."
The Three Lions' next game is a Nations League clash with the Republic of Ireland in September, with Finland their next opponents three days later.
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