Netherlands out to become England's bogey team again

England faced the Netherlands in Amstelveen last year in a three-match ODI series which turned out to be a low-key one but quite significant in many ways. 

It was the first time the Dutch were playing England outside ICC events. In the first match, England reinforced their credentials as the most aggressive white-ball side ever by racking up 498 in 50 overs, the highest total in List A cricket. 

England's inspirational captain Eoin Morgan retired in the middle of the series, handing over the duties to Jos Buttler, who would go on to lead them to a T20 World Cup triumph in 2022.

Fast forward a year and the fate of the two teams have changed dramatically. England, tipped to retain the World Cup by many experts, have gone through a horror run of form and crashed out of the tournament. 

On the other hand, the Netherlands, after qualifying for the tournament in the most unprecedented manner, stunned two Test-playing teams in South Africa and Bangladesh and are now eyeing a top-eight finish to book a 2025 Champions Trophy berth.

With Bangladesh downing Sri Lanka in a heated affair on Monday, the battle at the bottom half of the table has intensified and as it stands, two of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, England and the Netherlands will qualify for the Champions Trophy. Out of the four, England are the team with least number of wins but they still have two matches left to make amends.

England's hopes rested on experienced pros like Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes but their indifferent form meant they could never perform as a group. 

An ageing squad and lack of 50-over cricket have been deemed as reasons behind the World Cup debacle and they are likely to look at a rejig after the tournament. 

Woakes and Adil Rashid showed excellent form in the previous match against Australia. Stokes battled his way to 64 off 90 balls and should be confident ahead of the Netherlands game.

Max O'Dowd got some runs against Afghanistan which is an encouraging sign for the Dutch given the poor form of the top-order. 

Sybrand Engelbrecht and Scott Edwards have been the mainstays of their batting line-up at the lower middle order and they have been well-backed up by the likes of Logan van Beek, Paul van Meekeren and Bas de Leede who have got 31 World Cup wickets among them.

England don't have great memories playing the Netherlands in ICC events. Although England got over the line despite a Ryan ten Doeschate masterclass, they lost to the Dutch in two T20 World Cups - in 2009 and 2014. 

Adil Rashid made his debut in the match where the Netherlands famously shocked England at the Lord's in the 2009 World T20. Eoin Morgan and Dirk Nannes, part of the commentary team in the World Cup, played that match as well. 

Five years later, van Beek rattled the likes of Buttler and Moeen to bundle England out for 88 in Chattogram and notch up another famous win. 

The Netherlands have won twice against England and both of them have come in ICC events. In fact, the Dutch have a 2-1 lead over England in the last three ICC event matches. Scott Edwards' men will take inspiration from that and will be keen to become England's bogey team again.