BEN STOKES is predicting an explosive finish to England’s record-breaking One-Day series with New Zealand, but the hosts will almost certainly have to tackle the decider at Durham Emirates ICG without their middle-order star Jos Buttler.

Buttler, whose sensational century was the highlight of England’s remarkable total of 408 in the opening game of the series at Edgbaston, damaged the webbing between the thumb and forefinger of his left hand as he trained in the nets at Chester-le-Street yesterday.

The wicketkeeper-batsman left the outfield with a protective bandage on his hand, and while the injury will be reassessed this morning, there is little chance of him being risked with the opening Ashes Test against Australia now less than three weeks away.

Despite Kent wicketkeeper Sam Billings being part of the one-day squad, England withdrew Yorkshire’s Jonny Bairstow from his county side’s T20 Blast game against Nottinghamshire last night and he will start behind the stumps this morning if Buttler does not make it.

Bairstow has been in fine form for Yorkshire this season, but he lacks the devastating batting talent of Buttler, who will be a big miss on a pitch that is expected to serve up another high-scoring encounter.

“It would be a blow to be without Jos, but he’s damaged the webbing on his hand so we’ll just have to see how he goes,” said all-rounder Ben Stokes, who will be one of two Durham players involved on their home ground today with fast bowler Mark Wood also expected to start. “The doctors will have another look at it before the game, and at this stage, we’re not sure about how long it’s going to be.

“He’s been a massive part of the team over the last two years now, and he’s in incredible form, as everyone else is really. Hopefully, he’ll be good and able to play.”

Regardless of who lines up, a capacity 14,000 Riverside crowd should be in for a treat, with the current series already having seen a host of batting records shattered.

England scored more than 400 in an ODI for the first time at Edgbaston, and successfully chased down a target of 350 for the first time at Trent Bridge earlier this week.

If there are seven or more sixes in today’s game, the series will break the world record for the most sixes in a five-game encounter, and while the forecast is for overcast conditions this morning, Stokes does not expect to see any let-up in the run rate.

“The one-day wickets are a bit different to the Championship wickets we get here,” he said. “Games are normally done in three days with the red ball, but generally over the last two years, the one-day wickets here have been really nice to bat on. I’d be surprised if it wasn’t another run-filled game.”

England’s aggressive batting approach stands in marked contrast to their limp displays at this winter’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, and suggests that the squad have finally latched on to the global shift in emphasis that has transformed one-day cricket in the last 12 months.

Scores that would once have been considered competitive are now completely redundant, with batsmen looking to attack from the very start of the innings.

“It’s been an amazing series to be part of,” said Stokes, who was controversially left out of the England squad that travelled to the World Cup. “There hasn’t been a game where no side has posted 300 yet, so the amount of runs scored has been brilliant to watch.

“Even just sat up in the dressing room watching, it’s been so exciting. We know that people have come to watch and really enjoyed it, which was something we wanted to do.

“If we can keep producing games like we have done on a consistent basis, then I reckon we’ve got to be one of the best teams in the world. Hopefully, this is just somewhere we can start and look to launch forward from.”