Visiting skipper Tim Paine paid tribute to England’s excellence as they hammered his Australia side at Trent Bridge to wrap up a Royal London series win.
The hosts took an unassailable 3-0 lead while the tourists fell to their biggest ODI defeat in history, a margin of 242 runs.
Eoin Morgan became England’s record aggregate run scorer and Notts’ Alex Hales and Jonny Bairstow hit centuries as the hosts piled up a world record-best 481-6 before bowling out their opponents for 239.
“I don’t think the conditions had anything to do with the result, we just ran into an some guys who are absolutely red hot at the moment and put us to the sword,” said Paine.
“Whether batting or bowling first or second, the wicket was terrific. We just didn’t execute well when we needed it.
“I thought I had some headaches in the last game when I got hit in the head, but I had a few more out there today.
“I have been playing cricket since I was a kid and that is the hardest day’s cricket I have ever had in my life. Everything we tried didn’t work and everything they tried came off.
“Normally that happens for an hour or two and then you get a couple of wickets, but for it to happen for as long as it did… we have to take our hats off to them. They struck the ball as well as I’ve ever seen.”
“You have to give them credit – they played some unbelievable cricket shots, but at the same time we will look at it and go through it and learn from it.
“The best way for our guys to learn is on the job, so as bad as it feels right now, it can be a big positive going forward that we’ve gone through a day like this, the sun comes up tomorrow and we get another crack at it in two days’ time.”
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T20 returns to Trent Bridge on 4 July with a 2017 Finals Day rematch of Notts Outlaws v Birmingham Bears. Tickets are £10 in advance for adults, £7 for over-65s & under-21s and £5 for under 16s. Secure your seats now.