Ben Stokes rescues England again to set up big World Cup win over Netherlands

Ben Stokes once again came to England's rescue as his timely century pulled the struggling champions out of trouble and propelled them past 300 to set up a big World Cup win over the Netherlands.

England seemed to have lost their way at 192-6 in Pune on Wednesday and were struggling to reach anywhere near 300 with 15 or so overs to go.

But Stokes' 108, only the second individual century for England in the tournament, brought some life to the innings in the company of Chris Woakes (51) during a seventh-wicket stand of 129.

Their score of 339-9 was well beyond the Netherlands' reach. No Dutch batsman managed to reach fifty as England bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets.

The seamers did a tidy job up front. Chris Woakes had Max O'Dowd caught off a lazy shot to mid-off and David Willey followed up by having Colin Ackermann caught behind via a loose drive.

Then England's spinners broke any Dutch resistance. Leg spinner Adil Rashid picked up 3-54 and received good support from Moeen Ali (3-42).

Captain Scott Edwards hit a few heavy blows as he went on the counter-attack but when he fell for 38, giving Moeen his first wicket of the tournament, it was a body blow for his side.

Teja Nidamanuru top-scored with 41 off 34 balls but it was never going to be enough. The Netherlands were dismissed for 179 in 37.2 overs as the double world champions triumphed by 160 runs.

Earlier, opening batsman Dawid Malan led the way for England, the left-hander completing a 36-ball fifty that featured 40 runs in boundaries.

A special landmark for a special player ❤️

Take a bow, Ben Stokes