The ICC Cricket World Cup rolls back into Pune on Wednesday as two sides who have already been eliminated from the competition meet in what is still a big match for both sides as England take on the Netherlands.
While these two teams can no longer progress in this competition, the winner would still be in with a chance of qualifying for the Champions Trophy in 2025. The loser would find that possibility become a lot harder so there should be a competitive edge to this one.
England
This has been a horrendous campaign for England, one which has bordered on pathetic. They have lost their last five matches and you would do well to find any positives from them really. On the all too rare occasion that they have bowled well they have batted atrociously and the same applies to the reverse, although it has to be said that their batting hasn’t gone well in this tournament at all. I that doesn’t change here they can kiss goodbye to the Champions Trophy in 2025.
The really surprising thing for this England side is that the style and brand of cricket they have established and delivered over the past eight years has not been with them in this tournament. They have been eliminated meekly really. We should acknowledge the improvement in the last couple of matches though. They did keep India to their lowest score of the tournament so far and for 40 overs of the first innings against Australia they were well in the game too but weren’t good enough to convert either position.
Netherlands
While not many players on show on Wednesday were involved in them, I don’t think any Netherlands player will need to be reminded that these two nations have met twice in ICC World Cups and it is they who have come out on top on both occasions. They have been in the 20 over format but it shows that the Dutch can raise their game against England when it matters and get over the line, so if they can produce their best here they might have a chance.
The Netherlands have already seen off South Africa and Bangladesh in this competition so we know they have the ability to knock off the established sides. Their bowling generally keeps going but it does need early wickets to control teams. They haven’t really fired right at the top of their order but their lower order has bailed them out and if it can all come together here they could certainly challenge a low in confidence England side if not actually beat them.
Special Offer
Sign up for a Boylesports account and bet £10 to get up to £20 in free bets! Perfect offer for the World Cup! Click the image below for this great offer! New accounts only. 18+ T&Cs apply. Gamble Aware.
Team News
England surely have to recall Harry Brook for this match. It beggars belief he hasn’t played the last few matches anyway but with them out of the competition now there probably isn’t a point in flogging Ben Stokes anymore. Mark Wood has been ruled out so Gus Atkinson or Brydon Carse will replace him.
Netherlands might look to change up their bowling a little bit as it was a little frayed at the edges in the last game. Saqib Zulfiqar would appear to be the most vulnerable with Shariz Ahmad the man who could come in.
Betting
I’ll go with a couple of bets over the course of this match with the first of them being on the Dutch captain Scott Edwards and his performance which has a line of 32.5 which feels a little on the low side to me given his record against England. He cost me in the last game when he was run out off the first ball but he has played three ODI matches against England and made 50 in each of them and the one thing we know about this England attack is the deeper into the innings it goes the worse and weaker it gets. Edwards will have 50 overs behind the stumps to pick up points too. Edwards has taken at least one catch in six of his seven matches in this tournament, including four of them against Bangladesh so he might not even need to score a run to cover this, or certainly not 33 but with scores of 72*, 78 and 64 against England, 33 definitely isn’t beyond him. I like his over.
The other bet that I like is the 6/1 on Harry Brook to be the top England batter. There isn’t really anyone in the top order who are going great guns for England at the minute but Brook did make 66 in the defeat to Afghanistan and got starts in the other three innings he has played. If there is a concern over Brook it is his ability to play spin but I don’t think that will be as much of an issue here as there is no real mystery to the Netherlands spin. He has the ability to score very quickly and we’ve seen the Dutch attack go the distance in the second half of the innings a few times in this tournament. Brook might well be the man to attack it again here.
Tips
Back S.Edwards’ Performance – Over 32.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
Back H.Brook Top England Batter for a 1/10 stake at 7.00 with Bet365
