Ben Stokes’ first World Cup ton leads England to 160-run win; Moeen Ali (3-42) and spin twin Adil Rashid (3-54) also star; Watch New Zealand vs Sri Lanka on Thursday, live on Sky Sports Cricket with coverage from 8am ahead of the first ball at 8.30am
Image: Ben Stokes made his first century in a World Cup match in England's 160-run win over Netherlands (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
Ben Stokes smashed his first World Cup century to help lead England to a comprehensive 160-run victory over the Netherlands in Pune.
England looked in trouble when Joe Root (28) was nutmegged attempted a reverse scoop shot and captain Jos Buttler (five) and Moeen Ali (four) both fell cheaply to leave them 192-6. But Stokes, as he often does, pulled his side to their second victory of the tournament, keeping them in contention for the Champions Trophy.
Opener Dawid Malan (87) and Chris Woakes (51) both batted spectacularly at opposite ends of the order to help England post 339-9.
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In reply, the Netherlands struggled to build a substantial partnership with none of their batters making it to a half-century and collapsed from 163-6 to 179 all out by the start of the 38th over.
England’s spinners Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid both picked up three wickets apiece and managed to keep the Dutch at bay by taking wickets at regular intervals.
The victory saw England climb up to seventh place in the table with the Netherlands replacing them at rock bottom. The top seven teams and hosts Pakistan will qualify for the Champions Trophy in 2025.
Stokes to the rescue
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Watch as Ben Stokes puts his foot down to reach his first World Cup ton from just 78 deliveries against the Netherlands
Aryan Dutt (2-67) made the opening breakthrough as he picked up the wicket of Jonny Bairstow (15) who played a tame paddle sweep to short fine leg where he was caught by Paul van Meekeren.
Dawid Malan (87) smashed his third half-century of the tournament off 36 balls and shared a 85-run stand with Root (28) to pull England to 133-1 by the 20th over.
Root attempted to play his trademark reverse scoop off a back-of-a-length delivery from Logan van Beek (2-88) but instead was nutmegged for the second time in this tournament. The first was against New Zealand earlier in the World Cup.
Malan’s cameo included 10 boundaries and two sixes but the 36-year-old attempted to sneak through for a quick single, had to turn back and put in a dive, but by that time Van Beek had already whipped off the bails with his bat inches away from the crease line.
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Eoin Morgan laughed from the commentary booth as Joe Root was bowled through his legs attempting his signature reverse scoop
Harry Brook (11), who replaced Liam Livingstone in the side, pulled a short ball from Bas de Leede (3-74) into the deep where he was caught by Ackermann as the Netherlands collected three wickets for only 31 runs leaving England 164-4.
Buttler’s disappointing form continued after he timidly launched Van Meekeren to mid-off, making the same mistake he did against Australia at long-off, and was caught by Nidamanuru. Leading up to the World Cup, Buttler was averaging 48 but has fallen to 14 in this tournament.
It seemed as though Stokes took notes from Glenn Maxwell’s majestic innings on Tuesday. He arrived at the crease when England were 132-2 and marched with authority to his seventh World Cup half-century off 58 balls with a six over deep mid-wicket. From that point on, Stokes dealt mostly in maximums, smashing six fours and six sixes.
He shared a 129-run stand with Chris Woakes (51), who also played with beautiful fluency, hitting a 43-ball fifty but the fast bowler was caught behind after De Leede caught a faint edge.
Netherlands hit rock bottom
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Joe Root rages after not cleanly catching Sybrand Engelbrecht, to which the Dutch cricketer followed up with a six next ball
England struck early against the Netherlands with Max O’Dowd (five) caught at mid-on by Moeen Ali (3-42) and Colin Ackermann (0) out for a golden duck to leave their opponents 13-2 by the sixth over.
Third-wicket pair Wesley Barresi (37) and Sybrand Engelbrecht (33) added 54 runs to pull the Netherlands to 68-3 after Root dropped Engelbrecht earlier on 16 at mid-wicket who then smashed the very next delivery into the stands for six.
A combined effort from Moeen and Woakes (1-19) saw Barresi run out, while Engelbrecht miscued a straight drive to mid-on and was caught by the latter bowler.
Spin twins Moeen and Rashid (3-54) skittled through the Netherlands middle and lower order which saw them lose their final five wickets for only 16 runs.
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Jos Buttler hails ‘smart cricket’ which saw Ben Stokes’ ton inspire England to beat the Netherlands by 160 runs
Logan van Beek (two) ballooned a full and wide delivery from Rashid to short fine leg where Malan took the catch. Roelof van der Merwe attempted to sweep Moeen but instead was out for a golden duck – the second of Netherland’s innings.
Rashid pulled out his trusted googly to bowl Aryan Dutt (one), while Van Meekeren (four) was stumped by Buttler after he wandered far out of his crease.
The final wicket of Van Meekeren denied Teja Nidamanuru (41) from reaching a half-century. He looked like Netherlands only hope for a victory after smashing two boundaries and three sixes earlier in his outing.
The defeat means the Netherlands are officially out of the World Cup.
What’s next?
New Zealand come up against Sri Lanka at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Thursday with coverage on Sky Sports Cricket from 8am ahead of the first ball at 8.30am.
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Sourse: skysports.com
