England FINALLY claim a second win at the Cricket World Cup as they beat Netherlands by 160 runs after five straight losses to keep their Champions Trophy qualifying hopes alive… with Ben Stokes smashing a stunning century

Ben Stokes may no longer be an ODI cricketer by the time the 2025 Champions Trophy is held, but if England do qualify, they will remember his final saving grace with gratitude.

On a gloomy afternoon in Pune, where the clouds repeatedly threatened to add ‘soggy farce’ to the list of their World Cup misfortunes, Stokes cracked a 78-ball hundred to end the debate over whether he should have flown home early for his knee surgery. .

Chris Woakes also played a role, scoring his first ODI half-century in three years as England recovered from 192 for six against a pumped Dutch side also chasing a top eight finish and qualification for the Champions Trophy.

But it was Stokes who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, hitting six fours and six sixes to take England well past 300 with the kind of calculated abandon that was once their trademark.

Up in the comments section, Eoin Morgan had again complained about the “mixed messages” he believes contributed to the downfall of his former colleagues.

And as Jonny Bairstow, Joe Root and the increasingly fatigued Jos Buttler all donated their wickets in a famous collapse, his words took on even more gravitas. Buttler also knows that the defeat against Pakistan in Calcutta on Saturday could yet make this 160-run victory redundant.

But for now, England can celebrate a win – almost a month after they last tasted it, against lowly Bangladesh – and for that their head coach Matthew Mott will be quietly grateful.

Mott had spent the previous night in the team hotel bar watching his Australian compatriots ride on the back of Glenn Maxwell’s miracle in Mumbai against Afghanistan.

He might even have wondered whether Stokes could produce something similar against a Dutch team he represented twice in 50-over matches against provincial sides in 2003 and 2004.

So far his tournament had been almost as frustrating as England’s. After missing the first three matches due to a hip injury, he had amassed 112 runs in four innings at a leisurely strike rate of 62. His fifth ODI hundred, and the first in a World Cup, was more like it.

There were moments of happiness. At 41 he was dropped by Aryan Dutt on the long stage of Logan van Beek. And on 68 he might have been lbw against Dutt had TV official Marais Erasmus not decided, perhaps generously, that the ball had brushed the glove as he made a hash of a reverse sweep.

But England are in no mood to turn down gifts, and Stokes’ stand of 135 in 13.2 overs with Woakes was their most stimulating match of the World Cup.

It was what preceded it that will worry Mott ahead of the match against Pakistan, who are playing for a place in the semi-finals.

Bairstow took his tournament win to 159 off 19 when he fouled Dutt for 15, before Root – who was better thinking of a reverse ramp – was bowled embarrassingly between his thighs for a stiff 28.

Harry Brook made just 11 on his long-awaited return, but the nadir of an England collapse at five for 59 came when Buttler, on five, drove Paul van Meekeren into mid-on and desperately threw his bat into the air.

It was the shot of an exhausted, distracted man, who now has an average of 13 here and may yet decide that a return to the over-50s will benefit everyone – both himself and the team.

Four years ago, Bairstow, Root and Buttler contributed 1,400 runs to the World Cup victory, including five hundreds and seven fifties. Here it is 486, with less than half a century since the Bangladesh match.

Yesterday, England were fortunate that Dawid Malan stayed in touch, driving to 87 before changing his mind about a single he had to cover and lost to Van Beek’s delivery.

But Stokes, on the field where he hit ten sixes in an innings of 99 against India two and a half years ago, and Woakes took England to 339 for nine.

Woakes then struck with the new ball, with Max O’Dowd chipping into middle, before David Willey left Colin Ackermann behind for a duck.

When Wesley Barresi was bowled out by a combination of Woakes and Moeen Ali, the Dutch were 67 for three, perhaps setting their sights on the 272 they needed to stay above England in terms of net run-rate.

But Willey had Sybrand Engelbrecht caught at mid-off on 33, and as the English spinners ran wild they were ricocheted for 179. There was even a first couple of wickets in this World Cup for Moeen Ali, one of the few in this team to close in on his target . ODI end.

Beating the Netherlands does not mean that England will suddenly be world beaters again. But it’s certainly better than losing.