ODI World Cup 2023: England vs Netherlands, 40th ODI - Who Said What?

England finally managed to win their second game of the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. The defending champions were going through a lean patch, but against the Netherlands, they showed their true spirit as the Jos Buttler-led side won the match by 160 runs. Batting first, Dawid Malan gave them a perfect start, but wickets kept on falling from one end. He, too, got out on 87, but England’s crisis man Ben Stokes stepped up yet again as he hit 108 runs to change the complexion of the game. Chris Woakes, too scored a half-century as England posted 339 runs on board in the first innings.

When it came to the chase, the Netherlands were on the back foot right from the start. Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid destroyed their batting unit as each of them picked up three wickets. The Netherlands got bundled out for 179 runs as England finally ended their losing streak in the ongoing ODI World Cup.

Dawid Malan’s blitzkrieg

Dawid Malan was sensational right from the start. Despite England losing a few wickets, Malan didn’t change his attacking approach as he gave a perfect start to the Three Lions in an important game. His 87 was extremely vital as England went on to post a good total on the board.

Stokesy-Woakesy duo

England were under some sort of pressure after losing six wickets. However, the experienced duo of Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes built a partnership of 129 runs, put pressure on the Netherlands team, and they couldn’t recover from it.

Double Trouble

The duo of Moeen Ali and Adil Rashid picked up three wickets each. The Dutch batters looked clueless at the very end, and the spinners took advantage of that. Courtesy of them, England managed to win the match by a huge margin of 160 runs.

Losing skipper Scott Edwards said:

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.

Winning skipper Jos Buttler said:

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.

POTM Ben Stokes said:

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.