England vs Netherlands 40th Match Cricket Scorecard ICC Cricket World Cup

November 08 2023

Stokes salvo lifts England Champions Trophy prospects

England boosted their Champions Trophy prospects with a comfortable 45-run victory over the Netherlands in Pune on Thursday.

Ben Stokes was the star of the show for England, hitting a quick-fire century to help his side post a challenging total of 330 for six.

The Netherlands never looked like threatening that target, despite a valiant effort from Stephan Myburgh, who made 95.

England's victory was their second in as many matches in the tournament, and they will now face India in their final group game on Monday.

The Netherlands, meanwhile, have lost both of their matches so far and will need to beat Pakistan in their final game to have any chance of reaching the semi-finals.

England captain Eoin Morgan was pleased with his team's performance, saying: "It was a good win for us. We batted really well and posted a challenging total.

"Stokesy played a brilliant innings and he was well supported by the rest of the top order.

"Our bowlers then did a great job of restricting the Netherlands. We're now looking forward to our final group game against India."

Netherlands captain Pieter Seelaar was disappointed with his team's performance, saying: "We didn't play as well as we can. We were outplayed by England in all three departments.

"We need to learn from our mistakes and come back stronger in our next game."