Summary England's Moeen Ali and Ian Bell smacked the highest opening partnership of the World Cup so far.
CHRISTCHURCH (AFP) - England s Moeen Ali and Ian Bell smacked the highest opening partnership of the World Cup so far when they scored 172 in a flying start against Scotland in Christchurch on Monday.
On wickets tailored to produce high scores, it was only the third century opening stand in 14 matches.
New Zealand have achieved the feat twice in three matches with Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill scoring 111 against Sri Lanka and 105 against England.
Ali and Bell s stand was broken in the 31st over when Bell was caught at cover by Kyle Coetzer off Richie Berrington for 54.
Ali was not out 108, his second ODI century with Gary Ballance the new batsman.
England s record opening partnership in all ODIs is 200 set by Marcus Trescothick and Vikram Solanki against South Africa in 2003.
