India (Commonwealth) _England’s skid of five straight losses in the ICC World Cup 2023 came to an end on November 8 in Pune as they defeated lowly Netherlands by a commanding 160 runs.
Batting first, Ben Stokes’ century helped the English team reach a massive score of 339/9 for the innings. With six fours and six sixes in his 108-run innings off of 84 balls, the excellent all-round player impressed.
Dawid Malan, the opener, had earlier set the tone for the innings with a blistering 87 off 74 balls. While others in the top order failed to build on their early momentum, Captain Jos Butler’s dismal performance in the lower middle order persisted as he was removed after just 5 runs. With a timely 51 runs off 45 balls from Chris Woakes, England easily passed the 300-mark.
The Dutch team’s best bowler was Bas de Leede, who claimed three wickets at the expense of 74 runs.
The previous world champions seemed to be superior against Netherlands as they started to collect wickets consistently. Despite entering their 30s, top order hitters Wesley Barresi, Sybrand Engelbrecht, and captain Scott Edwards were unable to transform it into good score.
Among the English bowlers, Moeen Ali had the most outstanding stats, taking 3 wickets for 42 runs. Adil Rashid, his bowling partner, took three wickets while giving up fifty-four runs. Pacers Woakes and David Willey both took two wickets while conceding 19 runs. Stokes received the player of the match award.
Even though England’s prospects of making it to the semi-finals had already passed, the win was crucial to their chances of winning the 2025 Champions Trophy. The top 8 teams in the World Cup point’s standings will be qualified to compete in the Champions Trophy competition in Pakistan, under the guidelines established by the International Cricket Council.
England is even with the lowest three teams—Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and the Netherlands—at four points. However, because of a comparatively greater net run rate of -0.88, it is presently rated at 7th, one spot above the other three. But the outcomes of Bangladesh’s match against Australia, England’s match against Pakistan on November 11, and Sri Lanka’s play against New Zealand on November 9 might alter the equations.
Most of England’s suffering in India has come from batsman collapses. Stokes made sure their most recent was less harmful.
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Malan took advantage of the generous bowling of the Netherlands with the new ball, driving when the ball frequently drifted too full, while, opener Jonny Bairstow, was caught at deep square leg after attempting to flog off spinner Dutt.
Before hilariously being bowled through his legs while attempting to play a signature reverse scoop to seamer Logan van Beek, who then ran out Malan an over later, Root struggled to 28, his best score in six innings.
Recalled in place of Liam Livingstone, Brook scored 11 before skipping a catch to deep mid-wicket, while Buttler extended his awful run of form by chipping seamer Paul van Meekeren to mid-off for five.
With a maximum score of 43, the England captain is averaging 13.87 throughout the competition. Nevertheless, he is adamant about leading England’s one-day reconstruction and says he will to skipper his team during the visit in Caribbean in December.
In the last three games, England’s bowling has at least improved, despite the batting’s struggles. Here, behind the lights, seamen Woakes and Willey discovered movement, but the Dutch were oddly hesitant. The Dutch scored the fewest runs in the tournament thus far—just 23 runs—during the powerplay.
The eight top-ranked teams will advance to compete for the Champions Trophy, which will be held in Pakistan. Only the top seven-ranked counties will advance to the event, which is being hosted by Pakistan. Currently, there is a competition among countries over the champions’ trophy qualification.
