England claim record ODI win over Aussies

England have claimed a five-wicket victory over Australia in Sunday's one-day international series-opener at the MCG after Jason Roy's record knock.

Jason Roy and Joe Root

England have beaten Australia in the first ODI after a record innings from Jason Roy. (AAP)

Jason Roy has smashed a record-breaking 180 to lift England to a five-wicket victory over Australia in Sunday's one-day international series-opener at the MCG.

Set an imposing 305 to win, the visitors chased down their target with seven balls to spare after Roy blazed his way to the highest ODI score by an England batsman.

It is the highest ODI run chase ever at the MCG, exceeding the 296 made by Australia against India in 2016.

White-ball specialist Roy belted five sixes and 16 fours on his way to overtaking the record 171 scored by teammate Alex Hales against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 2016.

He and Test skipper Joe Root (91 not out) combined for a brilliant 221-run third-wicket partnership to restore some English pride after their 4-0 Ashes series defeat.

Roy made an astonishing start to his innings, going on the offensive against frontline quicks Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to bring up his fifty off just 32 balls.

Starc had Jonny Bairstow (14) caught behind in the fifth over and Alex Hales (4) fell to Cummins soon after but by then, England had already piled on 60 runs at 10 an over.

After plundering 13 fours and two sixes from the first 10 overs, England went the next 10 without scoring a single boundary.

But Roy and Root remained in total control of the game, forcing Steve Smith to rotate between bowlers in search of a breakthrough.

"I think we probably left ourselves a little bit short (with the bat)," Smith said after the game.

"If a couple of batters just stayed for a little bit longer and we gave ourselves the chance to really go hard at the back end, we probably could have got up around 340 which is probably where we needed to be."

Roy was given out lbw to Adam Zampa on 91 but immediately called for a review, and the decision was overturned after replays showed it was pitching outside the line.

Legspinner Zampa (0-72) bore the brunt of the damage with Roy hitting three sixes off his bowling but Starc (2-71), Cummins (2-63) and debutant Andrew Tye (0-43) had few answers either.

Starc eventually had Roy caught in the deep but at 3-281, the damage was well and truly done.

Aaron Finch earlier scored his ninth one-day international century, combining with Mitch Marsh (50) for a 118-run partnership as the hosts reached 8-304 from their 50 overs.

Marcus Stoinis did the damage late, smacking 60 off 40 balls in his first outing for Australia on home soil.

Smith had identified the middle order as a key area of improvement and the runs from Stoinis and Marsh proved vital after Smith and David Warner both fell cheaply.

But the result will be another reminder for Smith's men that while they have made gains in the Test arena, they remain a long way off the ODI side that won the World Cup in 2015.

Game two of the series will be in Brisbane on Friday.


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Source: AAP



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