Ben Stokes blasted 108 as England posted 339 for nine to take control of their bottom-of-the-table World Cup clash against the Netherlands in Pune.
With their semi-final chances a distant memory, both sides still had plenty to play for, with a place at the 2025 Champions Trophy the prize for a top-eight finish, and England had Stokes to thank for their putting them in the box seat.
At 192 for six they were making life extremely difficult for themselves, but Stokes raced through the gears to do the hard work his side so badly needed.
Having ground out a hard-working fifty in 58 deliveries, he exploded into life and took just 20 more to reach his fifth ODI century in a display of power-hitting that helped bring 114 runs in the last 10 overs.
Despite not hitting any boundaries as he dug in between the 29th and the 43rd, he finished with six sixes and six fours before holing out with two balls left.
Coming off the back of five demoralising defeats in a row, Stokes produced a show of skill and character that reinforced his status as his team’s “spiritual leader” – a title first uttered by under-pressure head coach Matthew Mott during his spell on the injured list at the start of the tournament.
Former England seamer Steve Harmison, Stokes’ close friend and former Durham team-mate, called on England to send the 32-year-old home ahead of this match to accelerate his forthcoming knee surgery, but it is hard to see who could have provided the impetus had they done so.
Chris Woakes provided good support as he made 51 in a seventh-wicket of stand of 129 with Stokes, while Dawid Malan (87) was on course for a ton of his own until a silly run out cost him.
England had bossed the opening exchanges, Malan pounding out 10 boundaries in a 36-ball fifty in the powerplay, and even papered over Jonny Bairstow’s sloppy dismissal for 15 via a top edge.
The score was 133 for one when Joe Root attempted, for the second time, one of his trademark reverse scoops over the wicketkeeper. The first one had raced away for four, but this time he got his timings all wrong and was clean bowled through his own legs without even committing a full swing of the bat.
Root has struggled for runs for much of the last month, but falling to a Logan van Beek nutmeg was a new one on his bingo card.
Malan, who had driven expertly and swept two big sixes off Roelof van der Merwe, then fell on his sword in the very next over.
Setting off for a single despite tapping straight to cover, he was sent back by Stokes and caught an inch out of his ground by some smart work in the field.
Suddenly England looked vulnerable again, with the recalled Harry Brook (11) pulling Bas de Leede tamely into the leg-side to fluff his opportunity back in the XI.
Jos Buttler and Moeen Ali followed for single figures, the off-form skipper picking out mid-off and his deputy arcing the softest possible catch to long-off.
Stokes grafted hard to keep the innings alive, getting his eye in before finally indulging himself at the back end.
Aryan Dutt’s last over went for 24, De Leede’s final two shipped 34 and Paul van Meekeren delivered a steady stream of wides as the pressure told.
Stokes reached his hundred with a reverse sweep and finally departed in the closing moments looking for one last blow.
Charles, Powell star as Delhi Bulls hammer Chennai Braves by 65 runs in Abu Dhabi T10 League
Johnson Charles and Rovman Powell both played starring roles to help the Delhi Bulls get their second win in as many games in the 2023 Abu Dhabi T10 League on Friday with a 65-run triumph over the Chennai Braves at the Zayed Cricket Stadium.
Charles made a 21-ball 40 opening the batting including four fours and two sixes while skipper Powell, batting at five, hit 35 off just 15 balls including one four and four sixes to help the Bulls post an intimidating 126-6 off their 10 overs after being put in to bat.
Englishman James Vince also showed good form with 37 off 14 balls. Obed McCoy and Junaid Siddique had identical figures of 2-18 from two overs.
Chennai’s chase then came up significantly short, being bowled out for just 61 in 8.5 overs.
Only Mohammad Nabi was able to crack double figures with 25 as Fazalhaq Farooqi (2-8 from two overs), Muhammad Rohid (2-14 from two overs), Naveen-ul-Haq (2-22 from two overs) and Ravi Bopara (2-4 from five balls) combined to produce an excellent display of bowling.
With goal of being best all-rounder in the world, Matthew Forde says CPL is ‘foundation to my success’
Matthew Forde was 20 years old when he first appeared for a CPL franchise. Having had success in age group cricket he was someone who was of interest to CPL teams, but it was a conversation with Pedro Collins that started his CPL career. Forde had been coached by Collins for a while. They lived very close to each other, and Collins would regularly give Forde a lift to and from training.
On one of those journeys the conversation turned to CPL cricket. Forde told Collins that he did not currently have a team. Collins is part of the Saint Lucia Kings set up and he called Daren Sammy, the Kings head coach, while Forde was in the car. Forde was encouraged to send videos of him in action to Sammy and by the time he was dropped off Sammy had called back to say, “I want this youngster.”
That conversation led to Forde making his CPL debut during the 2022 season, and while he didn’t bowl in his first match, he was entrusted with the new ball for his home debut against Guyana Amazon Warriors. Forde says his response to being asked if he wanted this responsibility so early in his career was to tell Sammy, “You asking a dog if he want a bone”.
Forde was determined to make the most of that opportunity. While sat on a drinks cooler waiting for his home debut he made it clear to his team mate, Rivaldo Clarke, that he was not going to miss his chance. He said: “Rivaldo boy, I don't know about you, but I know when I get my chance and I come off of this cooler, I'm not coming back on this cooler.”
Forde has not had to sit on the side lines since, with the latest milestone being his call up for the West Indies ODI team who are taking on England in December. His coach for that series will be Daren Sammy, and Forde has said that his relationship with the Kings and West Indies head coach has been foundational to his career.
“I think he has been, if not the backbone, he has been the main guy for me in terms of giving me that opportunity and trusting me, believing in me. I started opening with the new ball for the Kings and he trusted me. I just kept performing until he built that trust in me,” Forde said.
For Forde, the CPL has been the building block for his career progression since making that breakthrough in 2022. “I think CPL was the foundation. CPL really started it all because without CPL then the rest of the world wouldn't see me. CPL was my first major tournament. So, for me that's like CPL was the foundation. And I will always say the Kings will always be at my heart.”
Going forward, Forde wants to develop all elements of his game. He has two half centuries in topflight cricket, one as an overseas player at the Lanka Premier League and another in the recently concluded Super 50 tournament where he presented the West Indies academy side. He says developing his batting and becoming a true all-rounder is where he wants his game end up.
“My goal is to be to be the number one all-rounder in the world and to put West Indies cricket back to where it needs to be at the top. So, for me and a couple of the younger guys like me, we work really hard in in terms of fitness, the mental side of the game, theory, whatever it be. We are always working because we know what we want to achieve, and we know the goals that we have set and planned out as a collective group.”
Top seeds England could face Scotland and Wales as teams await Euro 2024 draw
England, Scotland and Wales could be paired together in Saturday’s Euro 2024 finals draw.
The Elbphilharmonie concert hall in Hamburg will host the draw ceremony, which gets under way at 5pm UK time.
Gareth Southgate’s England, runners-up at Euro 2020, will be one of the favourites to win the tournament, with in-form Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham set to be the shining light in a strong line-up.
Their performances in qualifying, where they topped Group C ahead of reigning European champions Italy, have earned them a place among the top seeds for the draw in what could be Southgate’s final bow as England boss.
His contract will be up next December and his future beyond that is uncertain.
Scotland are in Pot Three, while Wales are one of the 12 play-off hopefuls occupying three spots in Pot Four.
Rob Page’s side still have two big hurdles to overcome in order to join England and Scotland at the finals. They must first beat Finland on March 21 then also see off Poland or Estonia on March 26 to book their passage to Germany.
Page said at the time of the play-off draw on November 23: “The form we’re in at the minute and with the ‘Red Wall’ at home, we’ll take anyone on in Cardiff.
“It’s a great opportunity for us: we’re two wins at home away from another qualification to a major tournament. We’re hoping now for two big efforts.”
The placing of England, Scotland and Wales in different pots keeps open the possibility of them all being drawn together.
England faced Scotland in the group stage of Euro 2020 and Wales at the same stage at last year’s World Cup in Qatar. England and Wales also met at the group stage in Euro 2016.
From an England perspective, a ‘Group of Death’ would arguably include Denmark, the highest-ranked side in Pot Two, and the Netherlands or Croatia from Pot Three.
A rematch with Italy would round out a tough-looking pool for Southgate’s men, with the Azzurri alongside Wales in Pot Four.
Southgate, speaking after England’s final qualifier away to North Macedonia, said: “There looks like being really strong teams in Pot Two and Pot Three looks like it could be very strong.
“In the Euros we had Croatia in with us, who proved to be one of the best teams in the world over the last few years, and we managed to navigate that, so we’ve just got to be ready for whatever comes our way.”
Scotland were extremely impressive in qualification, finishing runners-up to Spain in Group A and booking their place in Germany with two matches to spare.
“It’s always nice to qualify for a major tournament,” Clarke said after last month’s final qualifier at home to Norway.
“Obviously the last one was Covid-restricted so we missed that connection and that feel with the fans.
“It’s great for everyone in the country that we have something to look forward to next summer.”
Pot One also contains last year’s World Cup finalists France, a Portugal team who won all 10 of their qualifying matches and a vulnerable-looking host nation Germany, who sacked their coach Hansi Flick in September following a 4-1 friendly defeat to Japan.
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