As Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in a heated affair on Monday, the battle in the bottom half of the table intensified and at present two of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and Netherlands will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Of the four, England are the team with the fewest wins, but they still have two games to make up for it.
England faced the Netherlands in Amstelveen last year in a three-match ODI series that proved low-key but quite significant in many ways.
This was the first time the Dutch faced England outside of ICC events. In the first match, England reinforced their credentials as the most aggressive white-ball team of all time by accumulating 498 in 50 overs, the highest total in List A cricket.
England’s inspirational captain Eoin Morgan retired midway through the series, handing over duties to Jos Buttler, who would go on to lead them to a T20 World Cup triumph in 2022.
A year later, the fate of both teams has changed dramatically. England, tipped to retain the World Cup by many experts, suffered a form of horror and withdrew from the tournament.
On the other hand, Netherlands, after qualifying for the tournament in the most unprecedented way, surprised two test teams in South Africa and Bangladesh and are now eyeing a top-eight place to book a place for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
As Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in a heated affair on Monday, the battle in the bottom half of the table intensified and at present two of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and Netherlands will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Of the four, England are the team with the fewest wins, but they still have two games to make up for it.
England’s hopes rested on experienced pros like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes, but their indifferent form meant they could never play as a group.
An aging squad and lack of 50-over cricket were seen as the reasons for the World Cup debacle and they will likely consider an overhaul after the tournament.
Woakes and Adil Rashid showed excellent form in the previous match against Australia. Stokes made his way to 64 off 90 balls and should be confident ahead of the match against Netherlands.
Max O’Dowd managed a few runs against Afghanistan, which is an encouraging sign for the Dutch given the poor form of the top order.
Sybrand Engelbrecht and Scott Edwards have been the mainstays of their batting line-up in the lower middle order and they have been well supported by Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede who have 31 wickets for the World Cup. among them.
England does not have good memories against Netherlands in ICC events. Although England got over the line despite a masterclass from Ryan Ten Doeschate, they lost to the Dutch in two T20 World Cups – in 2009 and 2014.
Adil Rashid made his debut in the match where Netherlands shocked England at Lord’s during the 2009 World T20. Eoin Morgan and Dirk Nannes, who were part of the World Cup commentary team, also played this match.
Five years later, van Beek shook Buttler and Moeen to bundle England out for 88 in Chattogram and notch another famous victory.
Netherlands have won twice against England and both have competed in ICC events. In fact, the Dutch have a 2-1 lead over England in the last three ICC matches. Scott Edwards’ men will be inspired by this and will be keen to become England’s bogey team again.
