“I want us to go harder” said England captain Jos Buttler, preaching from the gospel of Ben after England recovered from a top order collapse to level the series at the Ageas Bowl where Liam Livingstone’s 95 not out from No. 7 spared England’s blushes after another unconvincing display from the England top order. A Trent Boult masterclass pinned England down to 55-5 and in the eyes of the captain it was timidity rather than recklessness that was the root cause of their early strife.

Defeat in Cardiff in the series opener came in atypical circumstances for this group of England players. With the gang back together – Stokes, Root and Bairstow were all playing their first ODIs in over a year – England scratched around to an under par total of 291 that was routinely knocked off by their counterparts.

At the Oval today, England were staring down the barrel of a top order capitulation similar to the one they experienced at the Ageas Bowl. Trent Boult, clearly rejuvenated by his break from international cricket, was getting the new Kookaburra to swing round corners once more. England were 13-2 in the third over as Ben Stokes strolled out to the middle. He walked off the field 42 overs later with 335 more runs added to the total, a national record 182 of which came off Stokes’ blade.

Stokes and Malan heeded their captain’s words after the Southampton ODI. England, encountering a perilous position, attacked their way out of danger. They went harder. By the end of the sixth over, the two left-handers had already propelled England to a run a ball. They didn’t look back from there.

Ridiculous.

Scorecard/clips: https://t.co/Pd380O21mn@IGCom | #EnglandCricket pic.twitter.com/6FGco9sV24

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 13, 2023

There was method to the aggression. Bowlers weren’t allowed to settle into their spells, Lockie Ferguson – who in touching 94 miles per hour served a warning that against the very best raw speed isn’t enough – was despatched for four fours – all off Stokes – in his first two overs. The left-arm spin of Rachin Ravindra was mercilessly targeted; the pick of the New Zealand bowlers at Cardiff was hit for 28 off his first (and only) two overs of the day.

As his troublesome knee increasingly restricted his movement, Stokes kept things simple – try to clear the boundary as often as possible. Milestones were knocked off one by one; he reached his first ODI hundred in six years, his highest ever ODI score, England’s highest ever ODI score and the highest ever 50-over international score from No. 4 (Viv Richards’ 189 not out came in a 55-over game).

His 182 included nine sixes to take his tally of maximums for the summer to 25 from just 12 international knocks. It was a timely reminder that even as a specialist batter, his presence in this England side at the World Cup will be invaluable. In the 2015-2019 World Cup cycle, he averaged exactly 50 in the middle order at a strike rate marginally below 100. Earlier in the series, England looked like a team trying to  remember how to play the format again. With the likes of Stokes and Chris Woakes finding their groove again, the final pieces are falling into place.