Stumped by a mile, England wrap up a 160-run win. Wide on a length, very slow, van Meekeren pursued the temptation, tried to lash it over mid-off but the flight and lack of pace had him play too early. Buttler took sweet time to whip off the bails. Did it with the second swoosh of the gloves in fact. The batter had given up
England vs Netherlands, 40th Match at Pune, World Cup 2023, Nov 08 2023 - Ball by Ball Commentary
A case of too little too late but also better late than never as England finally get the job done. Netherlands, as Edwards said, have a few recurring issues which they'll have to address to win their last game and get a better shot at making the Champions Trophy. Anyway, it's New Zealand vs Sri Lanka at Bengaluru tomorrow. A win for New Zealand will put them in good stead for a semi-final spot. Pakistan and Afghanistan will hope for a no result or a Sri Lanka win as that'll boost their chances. See you for what could be an interesting day. Goodbye for now from me, Ekanth and my co-commentator, Andrew Miller, and our scorers, Thilak Ram and M Venkat Raghav.
Jos Buttler, England captain: We were desperate for the win. Malan got us off to a great start, wobble in the middle, Woakes and Stokes stand was fantastic. Anytime we want someone to take charge, Stokes does that. Delighted him to have him in the team in that situation. Very smart from him and Woakes. We thought 339 was a good score. Everyone said it was a good pitch. (Would they have changed their toss decisions in previous games) I think so. But we gotta play good cricket as well. We didn't play that well. Tosses have been interesting, maybe the pressure of this being a World Cup (had a say too). Runs on the board has done well, people who have won the toss haven't done as well either. Willey deserved more than the one wicket he got, both opening bowlers set the game well. Huge game in Kolkata, nice to have a game that means a lot after a disappointing tournament,
Scott Edwards, Netherlands captain: Disappointing. Didn't start well with the ball. Bowlers dragged it back well but they got away at the end. Same old story with the bat. Was a pretty good wicket, we tried a few things but they batted well. It's a balance when chasing, you have to get some runs in the powerplay but need wickets in the middle. We'll talk about it and figure out what to do better. We've been good in patches, gotta do it for longer. Will be an amazing atmosphere in Bengaluru, looking forward to it.
Zaid: "congrats to England but this is really worrying as a Pakistani fan"
Ben Stokes, POTM Happy to get back to winning more than getting a ton. It's been a tough World Cup. Was a nice wicket to bat on, just that there was a bit of tennis-ball bounce from a back of length. Tried to take it as deep as possible and then cash in. Woakes and I used the scoreboard and we had lots of time to work with. We built a nice partnership, it's amazing how quick you can catch up. Woakes is a genuine allrounder, he's been a great cricketer for the last two-three years, this showed why. (Upon being asked if he'd have left the camp after England were knocked out to sort out his body) No.
9:09pm England snap their five-game losing streak. It's come too late but Buttler's all smiles and Stokes looks happy too. They were clinical in the chase. Woakes and Willey found swing to dismiss O'Dowd and Ackermann early. Baressi was slow but picked up pace and Engelbrecht offered support but a mix-up between the two cut short a promising 54-run stand. Baressi, Engelbrecht, Edwards and Nidamanuru got starts but couldn't carry on. Moeen finally got his name among the wicket-takers charts, he cleared up the lower-middle order and tail with Adil Rashid for company. In the end, it was a comprehensive win.
Patrick: "Loving all of the even numbers in the world cup table"
For a start, he's happy to turn over strike. Works a shortish ball on fourth to midwicket
Can Nidamanuru get fifty?
Another sweep attempt but the ball was much slower and outside off, ripped away past the bat.
Van Meekeren's out for a good time though, goes across to walk into the line. Sweeps it off a full length in the gap behind square.
Slip and leg slip in with England all but there.
Googly goes through him. Tossed up deliciously around off, Dutt was drawn forward and tried to drive through extra, left a gate between bat and pad. Rashid went through and hit the stumps.
Googly jumps in off a length towards off,
Length on off, worked to midwicket
Not that short but Nidamanuru rocks back early and pulls it hard to the right of midwicket. Too far for long-on to catch up. Over 90kph, much flatter ball than normal
Rudra Varma: "Stage set for Nidamanuru to do a Maxwell. He just needs to get the "god mode" and "butterfingers" cheat codes from Maxwell."
Short at the stumps, Nidamanuru works the 92ks ball to deep midwicket. Gentle flick to retain strike
Wide on a length, slapped past cover but mid-off moves to the left and stops it
Dev: "Maybe not... 8 down now."
Dev: "Here we go! 7 down, Nidamanuru it's over to you!"
Spoons a reverse sweep to short third. On a length at the stumps, Roelof twisted around and drove the bat with power, got done by the slowness of the ball. It popped off the gloves and then bat, ballooned straight to the fielder
9,217 attendance in Pune
Charges and tries to push it across but gets beaten. Hit on the pad but was way down the pitch. Moeen felt it was going down leg too
Fullish ball on middle, Roelof waits and punches it down the pitch
Turned to midwicket
Googly on a length comes in towards leg stump, beats the full-faced defence on the inside edge and hits pad. Lbw appeal turned down, might've gone down leg
Balloons a sweep to short fine leg. It was wide on a fullish length, van Beek tried to drag it across with a hard sweep. Rolled his wrist and tried to keep it low but it popped off the edge anyway. Second catch for Malan in two overs, this one a proper dolly
Short and it's pulled over the infield, deep midwicket runs to the left and cuts it off.
Fullish ball on off, defended towards point
Full and flat on fifth, 87ks, slapped to cover
Full on fourth, defended to cover point
Over 38 • NED 179/10