🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #40: England vs Netherlands 🏏

A cricket match that will make us all pause and ask, "Did that really happen?" We are all living in Glenn Maxwell's world now, after all. Yesterday at the Wankhede, the biggest show we've witnessed, with no feet, a damaged back, and a tired body, gave the most outstanding performance ever.

The only thing left for the reigning champs, Eng to salvage is their pride, which they hope to do by winning tonight! For the other team, they are picking up the nuances of the game to master it!

🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #40: England vs Netherlands 🏏

Currently, England find themselves at the bottom of the points table, even lower than the 14th-ranked Netherlands, their adversaries in the penultimate game scheduled today in Pune.

With their chances of defending the title gone, the postmortem has already begun. Some of the points under debate include whether skipper Buttler and coach Matthew Mott should continue in their roles and whether the team is too old for the 50-over format.

Their average age is close to 32 years—not too old, but not in the prime of cricketing youth either!

They were largely off-color and sometimes even timid, like they were against India for instance. Every side they faced seemed capable of beating them.

One school of thought is that they may have failed to adjust to the varying conditions of the different venues in India, where they have played six different venues spread across the length and breadth of the country, unlike in England, where conditions are largely similar.

As Moeen Ali recently remarked, the writing was on the wall, and nobody saw it.

But the Dutch still regard England as a formidable side, despite their current ills and vulnerabilities. "England are world champions. So, I think they would do what's necessary. They've prepared just as much. And, in South Africa, where I'm from, there's a famous saying about never underestimating a wounded buffalo. So, I think we sit in a position where England's one of the best teams in the world. And irrespective of how they're playing, they can produce incredible performances at any moment. So that's what we're preparing for—the best England possible," Netherlands' support staff member Ryan van Niekerk said.

Tag Credit: Sutapasima

With a semifinal berth out of their reach, England now aims to avoid the ignominy of failing to qualify for the Champions Trophy.

In this revised mission, they need a win against the Dutch, who have proven themselves to be no pushovers with two wins in seven games, one more than England. In this context, today's contest holds significance.

"Absolutely, I don't think there's ever a dead rubber when you play for England to be honest. I think the lads are completely up for -- we've got two games in which we need to win both to qualify for the for the Champions Trophy, so I think that's there for everybody to see and the guys are going to be obviously up for it and I think we'll be good tomorrow," said the team's fielding coach, Carl Hopkinson on the eve of the game.

A win for either side tomorrow could significantly improve their chances of qualifying for the Champions Trophy, a fact England only became aware of a week ago, and the Dutch had not entertained such thoughts until recently.

Jos Buttler-led Team England has an 88 per cent probability of winning this match. Scott Edwards-led Netherlands, on the other hand, has a low probability of 12 per cent to win this one, according to Google's win probability meter.5 hours ago

Team watch

England

Harry Brook, who last played on October 21 against South Africa, could come in for England. Gus Atkinson may get a go too.

Tactics & Strategy

Bas de Leede and Paul van Meekeran have picked 15 wickets between them in PowerPlay 2 (overs 11-40) in the tournament, and their threat with the old ball will be something England will have to be wary of.

Probable XI:Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes/Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Liam Livingstone, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood/Gus Atkinson

Netherlands

The Dutch are likely to stick with the same side for this crucial match.

Tactics & Strategy

The lack of solid opening partnerships have been an issue for Netherlands. Their opening stands in the tournament read 28, 21, 22, 7, 28, 3 and 3. In their last game, they dropped Vikramjit Singh and instead had Wesley Barresi open the batting, and they are likely to stick with the same combination and back them to fare better this time around.

Probable XI:Wesley Barresi, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards(w/c), Bas de Leede, Saqib Zulfiqar, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren

Did you know?

- Netherlands have lost all their six ODIs against England

- Max O'Dowd has a batting average of 14 and a strike-rate of 70 across seven games

- Jonny Bairstow has an ODI hundred in Pune

- Joe Root has scored a total of 18 runs in his last four games

What they said

I think cricket can be a game of - It's about executing under pressure, isn't it? Everybody knows that, and I think this team has been well known for doing that really, really well. It's an incredibly skilful team, it's a very talented team, but at key moments in certain situations, we haven't executed under pressure like we normally do: England fielding coach Carl Hopkinson on what went wrong for the side

Not necessarily - I would say that England they're preparing as they know how and they as I said they're world champions for a reason This is the same group that won, a similar group that won the World Cup not so long ago: Dutch coaching staff member Ryan van Niekerk on whether it is the best time to beat the world champions

Glenn Maxwell became the first Australian batsman to score a double century in ODIs last night and helped the five-time world champions to make it to the semis of CWC 2023. Just like most of the teams have struggled at the Wankhede throughout the tournament, even the Aussies were put under tremendous pressure while chasing a stiff target. However, the Big Show put on a freak show as Australia pulled off the first successful run chase at the Wankhede in this year's World Cup. It was indeed one of the most spectacular knocks in the limited-over format.

Hi all

I have a feeling England will win today

Three teams have already made it to the semis with only one spot remaining, but none of the teams playing today stand a chance to make it through. England are already eliminated, and Netherlands too find themselves on the verge of it. They will face England today and lock horns with India, later on Sunday. A lot was expected from England coming into the tournament, but the defending champions have been brushed aside by most of the teams with nonchalance. Netherlands have pulled off a couple of wins so far, but they haven't been consistent either. Both these teams have a couple of matches remaining, so they would want to put up a better show for their supporters and fans. Will they be able to do so? Only time will tell.

Glenn Maxwell became the first Australian batsman to score a double century in ODIs last night and helped the five-time world champions to make it to the semis of CWC 2023. Just like most of the teams have struggled at the Wankhede throughout the tournament, even the Aussies were put under tremendous pressure while chasing a stiff target. However, the Big Show put on a freak show as Australia pulled off the first successful run chase at the Wankhede in this year's World Cup. It was indeed one of the most spectacular knocks in the limited-over format.