Pune, November 8 (Language) All-rounder Ben Stokes, who played an aggressive inning of 108 runs in 84 balls against the Netherlands and gave England its second win in the ICC ODI World Cup, said here on Wednesday that he felt that his century would pave the way for the team’s victory. But glad to be back.
This is the first win for defending champions England after five consecutive defeats. Despite already being eliminated from the title race, this victory has a lot of significance for the team as the top eight placed teams in the World Cup table will qualify for the Champions Trophy 2025.
Before this match, England was in 10th position but with the 160-run win over Netherlands, the team reached seventh position.
After scoring 339 runs, England bowled out Netherlands for 179 runs.
After the match, man of the match Stokes told the official broadcasters, “I am more happy than the century that the team is back on the winning track. This World Cup has been difficult for us but it feels good to see this victory and century.
He said, “This pitch was good for batting. I knew that the ball here bounces like a tennis ball. My plan was to bat till the last overs.
In this match, opener Dawid Malan gave a fast start to England by scoring 84 runs in 74 balls with the help of 10 fours and two sixes. After this, Stokes got good support from Chris Woakes (51 runs in 45 balls) in the last overs. Both made an aggressive partnership of 129 runs in 81 balls for the seventh wicket. Praising Vox, Stokes said, “It has been great to partner with Vox. We were just batting without paying attention to the scoreboard. Woakes is a very good all-rounder for us. He bowled brilliantly after scoring his half-century.
England captain Jos Buttler said that his team has had a very disappointing World Cup campaign and they wanted to win the match at any cost.
“I was absolutely desperate to win,” he said. (David) Malan got us off to a fast start. The partnership between (Ben) Stokes and (Chris) Woakes was fantastic. Woakes is such a player who gives his all whenever the team needs it.
Praising Woakes, he said, “He is a class cricketer (Wokes), he has performed brilliantly for us. His swing bowling was amazing, he deserved more than one wicket.
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