🏏 Cricket World Cup 2023: Match #40: England vs Netherlands 🏏 - Page 62

Finally some smiles in the England camp in what has been a miserable tournament for them. They've smashed Netherlands by 160 runs to go from last on the table to seventh. Netherlands, though, will look back at this game as a missed opportunity after having the opposition at 192/6. England were struggling at that stage after a familiar collapse on a good batting pitch. But as he does so often, Ben Stokes came to the rescue to score his first World Cup hundred, putting on a partnership of 129 for the 7th wicket along with Chris Woakes who made a quickfire fifty. As many as 124 runs were scored in the last 10 overs as the match turned on its head. Having played his part with the bat, Woakes then came out and bowled a superb new-ball spell. He and Willey got the ball to talk and pushed Netherlands on the back foot straightaway. Along with the couple of wickets upfront, the duo created so much run-rate pressure that by the time spin came on, Netherlands were well behind the curve and had a lot of catching up to do. It resulted in chances being taken off Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali which didn't come off. Last five wickets fell for just 15.

Ben Stokes, Player of the Match: More pleased with the victory (than scoring a century), it has been a tough World Cup for us. It was a nice wicket to bat on, had some tennis-ball bounce. We (Woakes and himself) built a good partnership, whenever there was pressure building I had a look at the scoreboard and reminded myself there was a lot of time remaining (in the innings). Tried to take it deep and cash in later. He (Woakes) is a genuine all-rounder for us, he has been a great cricketer for England over the last 2-3 years and today he proved it.

Originally posted by: Naya_31

Match won’t be abandoned coz it only happens when no balls are bowled at all.

I think it is abandoned when 20 overs each side can't be bowled

This is the first time every team has won at least two matches each in an edition of ODI World Cup.

Biggest win for England in World Cup (by runs)

202 vs India, Lord’s, 1975

196 vs East Africa, Birmingham, 1975

160 vs Netherlands, Pune, 2023*

150 vs Afghanistan, Manchester, 2019

137 vs Bangladesh, Dharamsala, 2023

Most wickets by England spinners in a WC innings

7 vs West Indies, Chennai, 2011

6 vs Netherlands, Pune, 2023*

Most wickets for England in WCs

30 - Chris Woakes*

30 - Ian Botham

29 - Phil Defreitas

27 - James Anderson

24 - Adil Rashid

24 - Mark Wood

Edwards: We didn't start well with the ball, let them get away from us. Bowlers did well to drag them back, but they got away again towards the end for a slightly above par total. Then same old story with the bat. Was a pretty good wicket. We held them well till the 43rd over. Maybe we could've tried a couple of different plans. But credit to them, they batted well. Need to find a balance chasing a 340 score. We'll talk about it and figure it out what we could've done better. Like you said we've been good in patches. Just got to do it for longer. Going to be an amazing atmosphere there (in Bangalore), boys are looking forward to it.

Buttler: Absolutely desperate for the win. Malan got us off to a flier. Partnership between Stokes and Woakes was fantastic. Anytime you need someone to stand up, he (Stokes) seems to be the guy to do that. Smart cricket between him and Woakes. Thought it was a good score. But everyone who batted said it was a good pitch. The toss - you got to play good cricket as well. Can look back and say might've done different but you have to play good cricket too. He's a class cricketer (Woakes), been a brilliant performer for us. It was high-class swing bowling, deserved more than one wicket that he got. Huge game (Pakistan). At the end of a disappointing tournament it means a lot.

It's taken nearly a month in this World Cup for England to get their second win in the tournament after beating Bangladesh earlier. In that time they've crashed and burned, and found themselves eliminated after coming in as defending champions. But this is a good win in the hunt for Champions Trophy qualification. Just one more game left for them, and for Netherlands who've shown promise but are now at the bottom of the table. So that's all from us here. Crucial match coming up tomorow in Bangalore, and all eyes are on the weather there. Hope the rain will stay away.

Originally posted by: SoniRita

It's taken nearly a month in this World Cup for England to get their second win in the tournament after beating Bangladesh earlier. In that time they've crashed and burned, and found themselves eliminated after coming in as defending champions. But this is a good win in the hunt for Champions Trophy qualification. Just one more game left for them, and for Netherlands who've shown promise but are now at the bottom of the table. So that's all from us here. Crucial match coming up tomorow in Bangalore, and all eyes are on the weather there. Hope the rain will stay away.

Please win the next game