Live report - England vs Netherlands, Pune

England have finally arrived at the 2023 World Cup … seven matches and some 35 overs too late, writes Andrew Miller. On the face of it, this was a crushing 160-run win over the Netherlands in Pune, with which England not only secured the spoils in their de facto European Cup final, but also clambered three places in the tournament standings on net run-rate, from tenth to seventh, to help guard against the secondary embarrassment of missing out on qualification for the 2025 Champions Trophy.

That achievement would be small beer compared to England’s original tournament ambitions, of course, but had it not been for a throwback display from a bona fide World Cup hero, even this pyrrhic success might have been beyond them. It took Ben Stokes in beast mode to revive another deeply off-colour batting display, as he and Chris Woakes added an England-record 129 for the seventh wicket, before an overwhelmed Netherlands line-up wilted in the face of an unrealistic 340-run chase.

Stokes’ share was 108 from 84 balls - his maiden World Cup century - of which 62 came from his final 26 balls, including each of his six sixes. As with Glenn Maxwell’s masterful display against Afghanistan in Mumbai on Tuesday, his calculated acceleration into the back-end of the innings sapped the spirits of a previously dominant attack, as England pounded 124 runs in the final 10-over powerplay - the sort of effortless authority that this team once brought to the crease as standard.

Last man Paul van Meekeren walks past one off Moeen and Buttler completes the stumping. England have won an ODI for the first time in six attempts, and are off the bottom of the table!

Adil Rashid rips a googly inside the bat to hit Aryan Dutt's off stump. England are one wicket away from a thumping win in Pune - only their second of the tournament, but one which take them off the bottom of the table and into the qualification spots for the Champions Trophy.

The "Bulldog" fails to get his teeth into this challenge, Roelof van der Merwe reverse-sweeping Moeen to short third. Even Glenn Maxwell might struggle to win it from this point.

Two in seven balls for England, who are closing in on a big win - and a sizeable boost to their NRR. No heroics from van Beek today as his top-edged sweep off Rashid's googly loops up for a simple catch at short fine leg.

A fighting innings from the Netherlands captain comes to an end as he holes out to mid-off. England claim their sixth wicket - and Moeen his first of the tournament - to sends Edwards back and end the stand at 59 off 50. Logan van Beek, like Nidamanuru one of the heroes of an even steeper chase against West Indies in the World Cup Qualifier, is the next man in.

Don't tell Netherlands that they are out of this chase yet. Edwards and Nidamanuru have rattled off a fifty partnership from just 38 balls, both batters regularly finding the boundary - although Nidamanuru had a life when dropped by Willey at mid-on on 5. ESPNcricinfo's Forecaster still only gives them a 1% chance from here... but we all know how those odds worked out for Australia and Glenn Maxwell last night!

Two wickets in four overs for England and the stuffing looks to have been knocked out of this Netherlands chase. The returning Willey got rid of Engelbrecht via a plink to mid-on and then Adil Rashid got in on the act by inducing de Leede to chop on. The new batter, Teja Nidamanuru, got off the mark with a cut for four and Scott Edwards then slog-swept Rashid for six to lift Netherlands slightly - but just past the halfway mark of the innings they need another 225 runs at 9.37 an over.

But the partnership comes to an end immediately after the drinks break, as Barresi is run out at the non-striker's end! Netherlands have been the worst runners at this World Cup - they lost four in an innings against Afghanistan - and the problem strikes again. This time Barresi had gone a long way down looking for two into the leg side only for Engelbrecht to send him back. Woakes' throw was good and Barresi was at least a yard short trying to regain his ground. Tenth run-out of the tournament for Netherlands, way ahead of the next most (India and Sri Lanka with four).

England thought they had broken this third-wicket stand, after Sybrand Engelbrecht flicked to midwicket on the full - only for third umpire Marais Erasmus to decide otherwise. Root signalled that it was clean after taking a low catch and Engelbrecht seemed ready to head off, but there was just one grainy camera angle of the catch for Erasmus to look at, from which it wasn't absolutely clear whether fingers were fully under the ball. Root was clearly displeased with the verdict and Engelbrecht then rubbed salt in the wound by hooking Atkinson's next ball for six to bring up the 50 partnership.

A sudden flurry of boundaries sees Barresi double his score in the space of four balls. Twice he advanced on Moeen Ali, popping him over long-off and then hitting four more back down the ground, before a leg-side shovel off Gus Atkinson whistled away through midwicket. Netherlands are still going at fewer than four runs an over, but it's a start.

It has been tough going for Netherlands under the floodlights so far, as they creep along to 23 for 2 at the end of the first powerplay. Wesley Barresi, dropped on nought, is battling away on 11 off 38 while Sybrand Engelbrecht, once again up the order at No. 4, beds in. There have only been 11 scoring shots in 10 overs and the asking rate has already gone out to almost 8 RPO.

England's new-ball(s) pair of Woakes and David Willey have made a tight start, with just a handful of scoring shots in the opening six overs - one of them an edge to slip that went down - and the former makes the breakthrough when Max O'Dowd miscues a push down the ground straight to mid-on. In the following over, Willey angles a beauty across Colin Ackermann, who feathers behind to make it 13 for 2. Netherlands up against it already in their chase of 340 to win.

What will the ball do under lights? How much of a factor will dew play? The Netherlands openers will want to lay a platform and take it from there - though it was a testing opening over for Wesley Barresi, who survived a review for caught behind after flashing at a drive and was then dropped next ball by Root at slip off Woakes. Barresi actually played against England at the 2011 ODI World Cup in Nagpur, making 29 off 25 opening the batting as Netherlands set a target of 293 in one of England's less-eventful encounters at that tournament.

England 339 for 9 (Stokes 108, Malan 87) vs Netherlands
Ben Stokes' belligerent first World Cup hundred rescued England from a tricky spot against Netherlands in Pune, as they posted a challenging total after opting to bat first. England seemed to have wasted a solid platform after sliding to 192 for 6 only for a century stand between Stokes and Chris Woakes to revive their chances in the battle for Champions Trophy qualification.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Dawid Malan set the tone with 87 off 74 as England reached 133 for 1 in the 21st over. But after Joe Root was bowled through his legs attempting to reverse-ramp Logan van Beek, the innings went into a tailspin, Netherlands chipping away through the middle to claim five wickets for 59 in 15 overs.

Stokes stood firm through the collapse, although he could have been out on 41 when Aryan Dutt put down a tough, low chance at fine leg. Having reached his fifty from 58 balls, he required only 20 more to go to three figures - on the way surviving a review for lbw off Dutt - smashing five more sixes before being ninth out in the last over, as England plundered 124 from the final 10 to leave Netherlands needing to pull off their highest successful chase in ODIs.

A flog over deep midwicket is followed by a ramp to deep third and Chris Woakes has a half-century - his sixth in ODIs and first since September 2020, coming at a crucial moment for England in their World Cup defence Champions Trophy bid. He's out next ball, throwing the bat at de Leede and nicking behind. But his stand of 129 with Stokes - England's third highest for the seventh wicket in ODIs - has salvaged the innings.

Reverse-sweeps the pace of van Meekeren past short third, then holds his bat aloft. Ben Stokes scores his first World Cup hundred, a perfectly paced effort from 78 balls - will that stop the rot for England? They have raced past 300 here in Pune and still have a couple of overs in which to go big.

Another big over for England, as Stokes twice smashes de Leede down the ground to move into the 90s and Woakes then finishes it off with a ramp to deep third for another boundary. This is now England's highest stand for the seventh wicket or lower at ODI World Cups.

Plenty going on in Aryan Dutt's final over, which bleeds 24 runs - Stokes scoring 22 of them in boundaries. First came a muscular thrash through the covers, stepping away and beating both the man in the ring and the sweeper on the rope. Next ball, Stokes rocked back and swung Dutt over deep square leg, just clearing the leap of the man in the deep. An attempted reverse-sweep left Stokes on the floor and Netherlands reviewing for lbw - Marais Erasmus decided there was evidence of bat/glove although the spikes on UltraEdge seemed far from conclusive. A high full toss then disappeared over fine leg and Stokes took full advantage of the free hit by thumping that over long-on. England back on track for 300.

A brutal leg-side smear for six brings up Ben Stokes' second half-century in successive matches. He has had to steer the innings through choppy waters, bringing up the mark from 58 deliveries. But with more than seven overs still to be bowled, England have a shot at clawing their way up to 300 here...

Chris Woakes' punch for four in the 40th over has just ended a run of 62 balls without a boundary, Netherlands continuing to do a fine job of reeling England in. But it could have been better still, with Dutt putting down a tough, low catch at fine leg off Stokes, who was on 41 at the time. How much will they regret that missed chance?

England lose their sixth wicket as Moeen Ali lofts the ball down the throat of long-off. Pretty much the first aggressive shot he had played after a few overs of consolidation alongside Stokes, and Aryan Dutt has his second of the day. All going Pete Tong for England again. Still almost 15 overs of the innings to bat but they are already in danger of being bowled out.

Buttler gone now! He won't be flattening Netherlands today. The England captain's horror World Cup continues as he chips van Meekeren to mid-off - he has now batted eight times and scored 111 runs at 13.87. England, meanwhile, have lost 4 for 45 during what is normally a placid period of play and the men in orange are right back in this contest.

Bas de Leede gets in on the act now, removing Harry Brook via a limp, top-edged pull, well held a long way in from the square leg boundary by Ackermann. Brook, left out of the side for the last three games, struck a couple of eye-catching boundaries but is still searching for a statement innings in ODIs. His dismissal leaves England 164 for 4 and with Jos Buttler, another England batter struggling for form, joining Stokes in the middle.

England had been seemingly determined not to get bogged down, despite the loss of wickets. Brook drilled his sixth ball down the ground and sent the next through cover for back-to-back boundaries. Stokes then added a couple of fours himself, another straight drive off de Leede bringing up the England 150 before stroking van Meekeren through the covers.

Here comes that England wobble! Malan has looked in serene touch but even he is not immune to the team's bad case of World Cup-itis. Another self-inflicted wound, this time a calamitous run-out. Malan dabbed the ball into the off side and set off, only to be sent back by Stokes. Van Beek was the fielder in the covers to scoop up and fire in an off-balance throw to Scott Edwards behind the stumps, and Malan's desperate dive for the line wasn't enough to save him! From 133 for 1 to 139 for 3 in a blink.

The Root reverse-ramp doesn't bode well for England after all, as Logan van Beek bowls him through his legs while attempting the shot! Seemed the right length but perhaps too straight a line and he got in a right pickle, flapping across the line as the ball zipped through to hit the top of middle stump. Possibly a little cutter from van Beek, which made it stay down. England 133 for 2 as Ben Stokes walks out, Malan going strong at the other end. Can Netherlands drag this back?

We've seen barely a flicker of the old England batting mojo at this World Cup - but Root has rolled out the trademark reverse-ramp off Paul van Meekeren. Time for some Baz-brawling in pursuit of that Champions Trophy spot?

England have brought up their 100 in the 16th over, for the loss of one wicket. Netherlands, searching for some control, have turned to their spinners, with Roelof van der Merwe and Colin Ackermann operating in tandem - but Malan has just hit the first six of the day, slog-sweeping van der Merwe over the head of deep backward square leg. There's a bit of a breeze up around Pune, suggestions of some rain to come at some point. But it remains dry for now, with England looking to cash in on a decent batting track.

Joe Root has made it through the first powerplay - woot for England fans! Okay, so he only came to the crease after eight overs and faced just six balls. But given his struggles since the last ODI World Cup - 19 appearances, 11 dismissals in the powerplay, average of 5.72 - it is a small victory for him to reach the middle overs. The last time he did so was on the way to making 77 in the opening game of the tournament against New Zealand. England's total of 70 for 1 from their first ten is also their best effort at this World Cup.

England's fast start hits the breaks with the wicket of Jonny Bairstow, who top-edges a hack across the line to short fine leg. After racing to 39 for 0 from the first four overs, England's opening pair managed just nine runs from the next 18 balls before Bairstow's demise. Dutt was the man to check the scoring with a tight fifth over and he gets the wicket - only the sixth time in 106 ODIs that Bairstow has fallen to an offspinner.

Netherlands open with spin, as has been a regular tactic in India; Jonny Bairstow was watchful to begin with against Aryan Dutt before sweeping the first boundary of the innings. At the other end, Dawid Malan was a little fortunate to survive Logan van Beek's first delivery - jamming down on a yorker and seeing the ball bounce up behind him and over the stumps - before clipping three successive fours. A couple more in Dutt's second over means Malan is off to a flying start with 20 off his first 10 balls.

England are on a roll, Jos Buttler winning his sixth toss in a row (never mind that they have lost all five games previously). For only the second time, Buttler opts to post a target - perhaps bearing in mind that Netherlands' two wins have come batting first. "Champions Trophy is a tournament we want to be involved in," Buttler says. "We need to play some good cricket and win these games." Two changes for England, bringing in Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson - two players who could be involved in four years' time - for the out-of-form Liam Livingstone and Mark Wood, who is managing a knee problem. Scott Edwards, Netherlands' captain, admits he too would have batted but isn't too fussed with chasing. They have included in Teja Nidamanuru for Saqib Zulfiqar.