England and the Netherlands will play the 40th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 in Pune. This might be a chance of retribution for the English team. The Dutch will look forward to getting 2 more points from a weaker England side. Let’s have a look at the match preview and decide who will win. Also, there will be highlights at the end of this article.
Points table: ICC Cricket World Cup points table 2023
Match preview
Watch here: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Live Streaming
Pitch report
This is a batting paradise. If you look at the previous matches here, the surface has been very kind to the batsmen. The bowlers didn’t really get any help from the pitch. And you don’t count the batter’s mistakes here if wickets were taken. South Africa has scored big here, while measly scores like 250 something were chased quite easily.
Key players
From England’s side, Dawid Malan and Jos Buttler will play an important role. However, it is about time Joe Root went back to the “roots” of how an ODI match is played and plays an anchor role for his team. England collapsing too early is a problem they will be solving when they get back home.
From the Dutch camp, England has to get rid of Bas de Leede earlier when he comes to bat. And do not give him a wicket when he gets the new ball. He has proved to be a phenomenal all-rounder for the Netherlands side. Aryan Dutt can be the x-factor here. The English batters can try to hit him, but Dutt can completely deceive them.
Possible playing 11
While the Netherlands may go unchanged, there are some changes expected from the England side. Ben Stokes is injured and isn’t feeling well. The situation has gotten to the point where Steve Harmison had to come forward and say that someone from the management has to give Stokes a ticket back home. Also, Mark Wood is having fitness issues. So Gus Atkinson can make an entry.
Tournament so far
For the Dutch, the tournament has been pretty great. They won two matches, one of which no one expected them to win at all. Yes, I am talking about the South Africa match. That was some crazy stuff from the Netherlands team. Their recent win against Bangladesh at Kolkata, Bangladesh’s make-shift home ground, was enough to tell us all how competitive this team is.
As far as England is concerned, their stock value has gone down pretty low since this tournament started. People had a lot of expectations from them. They were in the top 4 of every prediction list.
Check: ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 Predictions
However, England has disappointed them all. They suffered from injuries, lack of planning and whatnot. It is like they are back to being what they were in 2015 CWC. They have a lot to mend when they go back home.
Predictions
While the Netherlands have a considerable chance to win this match, England has the past glory to look towards. They have won all the recent ODI matches they have played against the Dutch. However, is it even a factor to count, considering the current situation?
We are going to make a bold call today.
The English team will win this match (maybe)
Highlights
England won the toss and chose to bat first.
Playing 11
| ENGLAND | NETHERLANDS |
|---|---|
| Jonny Bairstow | Wesley Barresi |
| Dawid Malan | Max O’Dowd |
| Joe Root | Colin Ackermann |
| Harry Brook | Sybrand Engelbrecht |
| Ben Stokes | Scott Edwards |
| Jos Buttler | Teja Nidamanuru |
| Moeen Ali | Bas de Leede |
| Chris Woakes | Logan van Beek |
| David Willey | Roelof van der Merwe |
| Adil Rashid | Paul van Meekeren |
| Gus Atkinson | Aryan Dutt |
First Innings – England
- Are England batters finally coming to their senses? Finally, it was a breath of fresh air for the English cricket fans. And it came courtesy of a beautiful innings by Ben Stokes and Dawid Malan.
- The first two partnerships were pretty positive for the England batters. However, Jonny Bairstow could have stopped at the crease and provided a better start.
- Dawid Malan and Joe Root had a good stand. However, they went out quickly, starting another batting collapse from England.
- They were in trouble again. This was the time for someone like Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes to take the helm and steer the boat to safety. And they did that.
- The 129 runs stand in 82 deliveries provided England the score it needed.
- Bas de Leede was the most successful among the Netherlands bowlers with 3 wickets, just as we had predicted.
- Can the Dutch save this one, or will the English side finally win a match after a long time?
Second Innings – Netherlands
- England’s second World Cup victory came nearly a month after they defeated Bangladesh earlier in the competition.
- They’ve crashed and burned in that time and were ousted despite being the defending champions. However, this is a significant victory in the race for the Champions Trophy.
- They defeated the Netherlands by 160 runs, moving them to seventh place in the league.
- On the other hand, the Netherlands will look back on this game as a squandered chance despite having the opponents at 192/6.
- England was in trouble following a classic collapse on a fine batting field. But, as he frequently does, Ben Stokes came to the rescue, scoring his first World Cup century and putting up a 129-run partnership with Chris Woakes, who scored a quickfire fifty.
- As many as 124 runs were scored in the final 10 overs to turn the contest on its head. After contributing with the bat, Woakes bowled an excellent new-ball performance.
- He and Willey got the ball to speak and immediately put Netherlands on the back foot.
- Along with the wickets, the two applied so much run-rate pressure that the Netherlands were way behind the pace when spin was introduced and had much catching up to do.
- As a result, chances were taken away from Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali, which did not pay off. Only 15 runs were scored in the last five wickets.
Man of the match
Ben Stokes has finally decided to shift gears. I don’t know if it matters anymore. But it is important for them if they want to play the Champions Trophy in Pakistan in 2025. This century has saved England from a disqualification from that tournament, earned them a win after a month, and earned him the MOTM award.