England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat against the Netherlands in the ongoing ICC World Cup 2023 here at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday.
With just one win in their first seven games, England are now out of contention for the semi-finals and will be unable to defend their World Cup title, which they won in spectacular fashion on home soil four years ago. However England will hope to win this encounter to make the qualifying standard for the ICC Champions Trophy.
The Netherlands, on the other hand, still has a chance to finish in the top four and will need to win their next two World Cup games as well as have other outcomes go their way to make it to the semifinals.
Speaking at the time of toss, Jos Buttler said, “We will have a bat. Looks a good wicket, need to post a good score. Crucial matches for us, we need to win these games. Huge room for improvement. Need to play a good game of cricket. We need to trust in ourselves. Desperate to do things right. Wood and Livingstone are out, Brook and Atkinson are in.”
Netherlands captain Scott Edwards said, “We have spoken about it as a group, need to play good cricket. Proud of the way the guys have played. Two more games for to show more improvement. We have shown good signs as a batting group. Teja Nidamanuru comes in for Zulfiqar.”
England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler(w/c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid.
Netherlands (Playing XI): Wesley Barresi, Max ODowd, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards(w/c), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren. (ANI)
