Cricket World Cup: England and Netherlands fight for Champions Trophy spot in game of ‘expectation vs privilege’ | Cricket News
While a spot in the World Cup semi-finals is no longer possible for both England and Netherlands, their match could determine who will compete in the Champions Trophy.
Jos Buttler’s eliminated England side sit rock bottom of the table with just one win out of seven and two points, while Netherlands are two spots above with two wins and four points to their name.
The top eight in this tournament will claim spots in the Champions Trophy 2025, the top seven if Pakistan finish out of those spots.
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One win might be enough for the Netherlands to take one of those spots and two definitely should be. With the tough test of runaway leaders India in their last game, they will be looking at England as their best opportunity to get one of those wins wrapped up.
Despite facing an England side low on confidence, Netherlands’ Bas de Leede believes the “expectation” still firmly lies with England heading into the match.
“As a title-defending team there is a huge pressure on you straight away, especially when you don’t get a great start, and I’m sure there is added pressure for them now on this game,” said De Leede.
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“For us it’s a privilege to be playing for a spot in the Champions Trophy, for them it’s an expectation to finish at least in the top eight.
“Of course England are a dangerous side, they have such quality in the batting and bowling departments, but two wins in this campaign is pretty good for us and we feel as a group there is more out there for us.
“The proof is there in the South Africa game. To see what we have been practising come off against a team like that was great to see and gave us a lot of confidence as a team.
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“It’s a massive opportunity, 100 per cent. It’s in the back of our heads that if we do manage to win this game it would help enormously to qualify and that would be huge for Dutch cricket.
“If we did qualify for the Champions Trophy it would secure another seven games against the best teams. That’s how we keep progressing as a national team and it’s in our hands. We kind of felt like we were gate-crashing here so to come through would be massive.”
Harmison: England need to be ‘brave’ and pick Brook
Former England fast bowler Steve Harmison believes England need to start making “big decisions”, starting with putting Harry Brook back in the side.
Brook played the first four matches of England’s campaign but was then dropped when England opted for fewer batters in their line-up against Sri Lanka.
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“I struggle to understand how Brook doesn’t get on. I know we’ve been picking world champions, but they’re not playing at a champions’ level,” said Harmison.
“England should have been brave enough to say, ‘this bloke needs to play’. We are talking about someone who is the best we’ve produced in a long time. He’s not the finished article by any means, but he probably makes our best XI.
“The problem is England are picking names who haven’t performed and hoping it gets better. One bad game turns to two, two turns to three. It needs leadership and a bit of bravery to make a big decision.”
Live ICC Cricket World Cup
Wednesday 8th November 8:00am
Watch England’s penultimate Cricket World Cup match, against Netherlands in Pune, live on Sky Sports Cricket from 8am on Wednesday (8.30am first ball).
You can also stream the tournament without a contract through NOW.
