David Warner blasted 178 off 133 balls before Glenn Maxwell inflicted his own carnage to lift Australia to 6-417 in their World Cup clash with Afghanistan at the WACA Ground.
Warner cracked 19 fours and five sixes in his blistering knock, with Steve Smith (95 off 98 balls) and Maxwell (88 off 39 balls) also posting big scores.
But the 28-year-old missed the chance to score a double century when he skied one high in the 38th over.
By then the bulk of the damage had already been done, but Maxwell heaped even more misery on the minnows with a knock that featured several of his trademark reverse sweeps.
Australia’s total was a World Cup record and the seventh highest in ODI history.
The only other time Australia had posted a score in excess of 400 was in 2006, when their 4-434 wasn’t enough to beat South Africa.
Cheers rang out around the WACA when Afghanistan won the toss and resisted the temptation to bat first.
But the cheers turned to shock silence in the third over when Aaron Finch edged Dawlat Zadran to first slip.
With the scoreline reading 1-14, Australia’s hopes of building a 400-plus total looked shaky.
But Warner and Smith made light of the situation, combining for Australia’s highest ever ODI partnership to take control of the game.
Afghanistan’s bowlers weren’t the only ones feeling the pain.
A young boy in the crowd was left in tears after being hit in the hand by one of Warner’s mammoth sixes.
An ice pack seemed to soothe the young boy’s woes, but the Warner rampage continued as the 28-year-old approached his double century.
Warner’s knock was brought to an end in the 38th over, but Maxwell picked up the slack to ensure Australia surpassed 400.
Veteran all-rounder Shane Watson was axed in favour of the fit-again James Faulkner, while Josh Hazlewood replaced injured paceman Pat Cummins (side strain).
HIGHEST ODI TEAM SCORES
*9-443 Sri Lanka v Netherlands in 2006
*2-439 South Africa v West Indies in 2015
*9-438 South Africa v Australia in 2006
*4-434 Australia v South Africa in 2006
*5-418 South Africa v Zimbabwe in 2006
*5-418 India v West Indies in 2011
*6-417 Australia v Afghanistan in 2015
*7-414 India v Sri Lanka in 2009
*5-413 India v Bermuda in 2007
*8-411 Sri Lanka v India in 2009
*4-411 South Africa v Ireland in 2015
HIGHEST ODI PARTNERSHIPS
*372 – Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels for West Indies v Zimbabwe 2015
*331 – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid for India v New Zealand 1999
*318 – Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid for India v Sri Lanka 1999
*286 – Upul Tharanga, Sanath Jayasuriya for Sri Lanka v England 2006
*282 – Upul Tharanga, Tillakaratne Dilshan for Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe in 2011
*275* – Mohammad Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja for India v Zimbabwe in 1998
*274 – James Marshall, Brendon McCullum NZ v Ireland in 2008
*267* – Grant Elliott, Luke Ronchi for NZ v Sri Lanka 2015
*263 – Aamer Sohail, Inzamam-ul-Haq for Pakistan v NZ 1994
*260 – David Warner, Steve Smith for Australia v Afghanistan 2015
