England have already crashed out of the Cricket World Cup, which was sealed by the 33-run defeat to Australia, but will want to restore pride against the Netherlands.
For England, the defense of their title could not have gone any worse, but there is still something to play for, with only the top eight in the standings qualifying for the ICC Champions Trophy in 2025.
Even that will not be straightforward, such has been England’s form that they sit rooted to the foot of the table, with the fewest points and a lower net-run rate than any other team.
There will be plenty of time after the tournament for a full analysis of how England’s title defense could go so disastrously wrong with very few warning signs before the squad departed for India, but for now there is a small chance to at least move off the bottom of the table, and two matches left against the Netherlands and Pakistan.
Follow all the live action in the blog below and get the latest tips and odds here.
England vs Netherlands
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Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone drop out for Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson
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Wicket! Bairstow out for 15 – England 48-1
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Malan 50! – England 69-1
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Wicket! Root out for 28 – England 133-2
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Wicket! Malan out for 87 – England 139-3
England 164-3 (26) Stokes 17, Brook 11
10:23 am , Sonia Twigg
Stokes has hit a stunning drive down the ground for four, which was up there with the best of the drives seen so far in the match.
He follows it up with another fluent boundary the following over, this time through the off side.
England 149-3 (24) Stokes 5, Brook 9
10:15 a.m , Sonia Twigg
Stokes and Brook have to steady the innings, but it is also an opportunity for them.
Stokes, to build on his 64 against India, and for Brook, who has come back into the team for this match, a chance to impress on the big stage.
Wicket! Malan out for 87 – England 139-3
10:08 a.m , Sonia Twigg
That was a poor mix up!
Dawid Malan has to depart, it was a running mix up and the in-form batter is run out just 13 runs short of what would have been his second century of the tournament.
Wicket! Root out for 28 – England 133-2
09:59 , Sonia Twigg
Root has gone!
He has gone for a trademark scoop, but it was too pre-meditated, he hesitated trying to play the shot and has gone for 28 runs!
That ball went straight through the legs of Root as he tried to pull out of the shot at the last minute, but from that position he was left with very few options.
England 131-1 (20) Malan 84, Root 28
09:56 , Sonia Twigg
A quieter over from Dutt, but it is getting to the point where the Netherlands need a wicket, and they would like it to be Malan.
But England have set the platform, something they have failed to do so often, and are looking comfortable.
England 124-1 (19) Malan 82, Root 23
09:51 , Sonia Twigg
Malan hits a second six to move into the 80s, this has been excellent batting from the England opener, who raced to his half century, took his foot off the pedal a little bit there, but has the World Cup’s 500th six!
England are cruising here. It’s just difficult to explain why there wasn’t any of this earlier in the tournament.
England 111-1 (17) Malan 72, Root 20
09:42 , Sonia Twigg
Malan has launched the ball to the short boundary for a 65-metre six! He has looked confident and composed here.
Root is just playing the ideal supporting role to Malan’s shot-scoring as the pace picks up from the innings.
He is just rotating the strike well and allowing Malan the freedom to go big.
England 82-1 (13) Malan 58, Root 6
09:27 , Sonia Twigg
Malan had a slightly nervous moment when he went for a leg-side flick, and didn’t quite get hold of it, but it was short of the fielder in the deep.
Root is just taking its time to get set here. As Nasser Hussain is mentioning on commentary, he has not looked in poor touch this tournament, but has just not had the scores to back it up.
England 70-1 (10) Malan 51, Root 1
09:14 , Sonia Twigg
This is the best start to an innings for some time in this World Cup, although their problem both in the tournament and leading up to it was the loss of wickets.
Joe Root scored runs in the first two matches, against New Zealand and Bangladesh and will want to add to his World Cup tally here.
At the end of the powerplay, England have 70 runs on the board, and it looks like a good pitch in Pune.
England 63-1, Malan 45, Root 0
09:07 , Sonia Twigg
Malan has looked on form here, and he remains the only England player to have scored a century in the tournament so far, although the game against Bangladesh feels like a very long time ago.
This is a chance for England’s batting to show that they can still, in fact, bat – something they have not been able to showcase this tournament.
Wicket! Bairstow out for 15 – England 48-1
09:01 , Sonia Twigg
Having said all that about a good platform, Jonny Bairstow is out!
He tried to go for a heave into the leg side and top-edged the ball and was caught. He has not found the form of 2019 where he set the world alight at the top of the innings.
The Yorkshire batter might be disappointed with that, there was a good opportunity for him to go and score runs today.
England 47-0 (6) Bairstow 15, Malan 30
08:58 , Sonia Twigg
England have been exceptional in this powerplay, and Malan in particular has picked off anything short or wide and looks comfortable.
If they can perform well, there will be calls about why they couldn’t do this earlier, but there is still a 2025 Champions Trophy place at stake, and missing out would be embarrassing for the side that can just about still call itself defending champions.
England 29-0 (3) Bairstow 7, Malan 20
08:44 , Sonia Twigg
This is just the start England would have wanted and what they haven’t had all tournament.
Maybe something about being officially out and having hit rock bottom has sparked something. It’s still early in the game but the openers are imposing themselves on the Netherlands and also defending at times.
England 6-0 (1) Bairstow 6, Malan 0
08:34 , Sonia Twigg
A solid start for England, at least there were no wickets lost unlike the first ball against Australia.
Bairstow got off the mark with a flick for four, and England are up and running against the Netherlands, who chose to open with spin.
England vs Netherlands
08:27 , Sonia Twigg
The anthems are done and it’s time for cricket.
England vs Netherlands
08:20 , Sonia Twigg
Vice-captain Moeen Ali has urged England to rebuild their aging team after the World Cup, claiming “the writing was on the wall and we just didn’t see it”.
Moeen was part of a golden generation who became world champions on home soil in 2019 and are likely to go down as the country’s best ever white-ball side, but their story is ending in disarray.
After arriving in India with genuine hopes of defending their crown, they have crashed out of the competition in humiliating fashion with six defeats from their seven matches so far.
Writing was on the wall – Moeen Ali accepts time is up on golden generation
England vs Netherlands
08:10 , Sonia Twigg
Ben Stokes has not been rested or dropped or sent home, but Steve Harmison believes he should have been:
Steve Harmison has called on England to send Ben Stokes home from the World Cup or risk losing their Test captain for the start of their forthcoming series in India.
Stokes has revealed he will undergo surgery on his longstanding left knee injury once England’s tournament is over but, with the defending champions no longer able to reach the semi-finals, they could decide to cut their losses and bring things forward.
The first Test of a major five-match series starts in Hyderabad on January 25, with a training camp in Dubai beginning two weeks earlier, meaning Stokes is already on a tight recovery schedule for a major operation.
England must show strong leadership and send Ben Stokes home – Steve Harmison
England win the toss and choose to bat first
08:05 , Sonia Twigg
Jos Buttler has won the toss and elected to bat first, a change from the trend of the side who have tended to favor chasing throughout the last few years.
The England captain said: “The work ethic is still there, the boys were working as hard as ever yesterday to put things right.
“There’s always belief, you don’t get to the standard you’ve got to without that belief. We look forward to today as another opportunity to put things right.”
Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone will be rested, with Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson coming into the side.
England vs Netherlands
08:00 , Sonia Twigg
As far as England were concerned, the match against the Netherlands still has something worth playing for:
England’s early exit from the World Cup is already guaranteed, but assistant coach Carl Hopkinson insists their bottom-of-the-table clash against the Netherlands is no “dead rubber”.
As the tournament finally edges towards the business end, the defending champions have long since become an afterthought in the wider context of the competition.
They have lost six of their seven games and saw their last mathematical chance of a miracle wiped off the table by rivals Australia in Ahmedabad last week.
England assistant Carl Hopkinson insists Netherlands clash is no ‘dead rubber’
England vs Netherlands
07:50 , Sonia Twigg
In Sri Lanka’s clash against Bangladesh, there was another controversial moment, when Angelo Mathews became the first-ever international cricketer to be timed out:
Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews has criticized opponents Bangladesh for the appeal that led to him becoming the first player to be timed out in 146 years of international cricket during their World Cup clash in Delhi.
Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan appealed to the umpire for the batter’s wicket as Mathews, who had called for a replacement helmet after appearing to notice his strap was broken, was not ready to face his first ball within the two minutes required by the competition rules.
Angelo Mathews fumes at Shakib Al Hasan after ‘timed out’ controversy
England vs Netherlands
07:40 , Sonia Twigg
Before we get into a look at the match, which starts at 8.30 am GMT (2pm local time), here is a look at arguably the greatest ever ODI knock of all time, from Australia’s Glenn Maxwell yesterday.
Glenn Maxwell rewrote the World Cup record books as he single-handedly batted Australia to a remarkable win over Afghanistan.
Maxwell defied “horrific” back spasms to hit an unbeaten 201 and power his side from 91 for seven to 293 and a three-wicket win.
It was Australia’s first one-day international double century and here the PA news agency looks at the records set by Maxwell and his eighth-wicket partner Pat Cummins.
‘Just ridiculous’ – A closer look at Glenn Maxwell’s remarkable double century
England vs Netherlands
07:30 , Sonia Twigg
Good morning and welcome to The Independent’s live blog for England vs Netherlands.
At the start of the tournament it seemed like an easy fixture for the defending champions against an associate nation, but Jos Buttler’s team’s failure to perform, and at times spectacularly imploding, means there could be more twists and turns to come.
It will be interesting to see if England make any changes, as there have been calls from some areas of the media to change things up and allow Harry Brook and Gus Atkinson a chance to impress, as the two younger members of the squad.
