Ben Stokes has been a saving grace for the English Cricket Team in this World Cup. As someone with substantial experience playing in the IPL, the fans expected more from him. Stokes on Wednesday did just that and played to his strengths as he scored his maiden century in the ODI World Cup, at the MCA Stadium, Pune.
The First Innings
England won the toss and chose to bat first, to pile on a substantial amount of runs to win with a huge margin to boost their net run rate. And they did just that. In the powerplay, England lost opener Jonny Bairstow(15 in 17b). But his partner Dawid Malan stood his ground and made a significant contribution of 87 runs(74b, 10×4, 2×6) before being run out.
Stalwart number three batter, Joe Root(28 in 35b) got out in the 21st over. But Ben Stokes took the onus on himself and displayed his impeccable stroke play. He along with Chris Woakes(51 in 45b, 5×4, 1×6) put up a crucial seventh-wicket stand of 129 runs to ensure that Dawid Malan’s contribution didn’t go in vain.
Ben Stokes smashed his maiden World Cup century and scored 108 runs(84b). He smashed six 4s and six 6s in his innings. Interestingly, this is the same ground where Stokes had scored his maiden IPL century in 2017.
The English pyrotechnics, especially in the last 10 overs helped put up an above-par score of 339 runs(loss of 9 wickets) for the Dutch to chase.
The Second Innings
The otherwise spirited Dutch response was a dud. They tried their best but they failed to get a hold on the English bowling attack. Notable contributions included that of opener Wesley Barresi(37 in 62b), Sybrand Engelbrecht(33 in 49b), skipper Scott Edwards(38 in 42b) and all-rounder Teja Nidamanaru(41 in 34b).
The English bowling, on the other hand, left no stone unturned as they cleaned up the entire Dutch batting lineup in just 37.2 overs. Spinners Moeen Ali(8.2-0-42-3) and Adil Rashid(8-0-54-3) spun a web around the Dutch as they both scalped 3 wickets each. Other notable performances included quickies Chris Woakes(7-0-19-1) and David Willey(7-2-19-2).
The Dutch innings got winded up in 37.2 overs in which they managed to score just 179 runs.
The Result
England won by a huge margin of 160 runs. Ben Stokes was named Player of the Match for his incredible strokeplay. With this England has tried to avoid the infamy of ending the tournament at the bottom of the table.
The Road Ahead
Both teams are eliminated and have one more game to go before the end of this stage. England’s next clash is with Pakistan on Saturday (11th Nov ‘23). Netherland’s last match is against India on Diwali(Sunday, 12th Nov ‘23).
England’s honour hangs in the balance, as they don’t want to end the tournament at the bottom, being the defending champions.
Here’s the latest look at the points table after Wednesday’s match:
| Team | Matches | Won | Lost | Points |
| India(Q) | 8 | 8 | 0 | 16 |
| South Africa(Q) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| Australia(Q) | 8 | 6 | 2 | 12 |
| New Zealand | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Pakistan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Afghanistan | 8 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| England(E) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Bangladesh(E) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Sri Lanka(E) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
| Netherlands(E) | 8 | 2 | 6 | 4 |
(Q = Qualified, E = Eliminated)