England head into the penultimate fixture of their 2023 Cricket World Cup campaign playing purely for pride after their dismal effort over the past month.
At a time when the dethroned champions require a victory to move off the bottom of the table, Netherlands go into Wednesday's encounter at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium knowing that a win will guarantee that they finish above England at the end of this phase.
Match preview
© Reuters
On the back of losing to Sri Lanka at the midway point of their schedule, England were left requiring a miracle to remain in the tournament, particularly with India and Australia still to come.
There was an opportunity to upset the tournament hosts when restricting them to 229-9 off 50 overs, yet there was a reason why India only made that total. It showed in England's reply as they were bowled out for 129, taking 34.5 overs to reach that score.
In theory, facing rivals Australia was the perfect game to keep their focus, with England's ageing side aware of the scrutiny that they were justifiably receiving, but they ultimately succumbed to a 33-run defeat.
Positives could be taken from Chris Woakes's 4-54 with the ball and Ben Stokes's defiant 64 with the bat, although that should not take away from the fact that they fell well short at the key moments, most notably Jonny Bairstow's first-ball duck at the start of the reply.
With Netherlands and Pakistan to come, it is plausible that England can still finish in seventh spot. While that would be viewed as a minor plus from a tame title defence, settling for that as a best-case scenario highlights the magnitude of the reset that will be required after the tournament.
Netherlands will attempt to become the latest team to overcome England on the back of a disappointing seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, while that will be viewed as a missed opportunity, the minnows of the competition will be delighted to be eighth at this stage with two wins to their name.
That could change with India to follow the England fixture, but their triumph over South Africa earlier in the tournament gives the perception that they will only relish the respective challenges.
Three of their bowling attack are in double figures in terms of wickets, and that form will concern England at a time when their batting has been as poor as it has been for several years.
Team News
Much was made of England sticking with an unchanged side for the Australia game, especially with none of the starting XI being below the age of 30.
With Stokes requiring knee surgery and David Willey retiring from international cricket after this tournament, there is an argument that the likes of Harry Brook and Sam Curran should return for this match.
With Brydon Carse yet to feature and Gus Atkinson being restricted to just one game, the pair will each hope to play with England surely needing to start to look to the future.
Netherlands will consider recalling Vikramjit Singh to open the innings after promoting Wesley Barresi up the order did not work out versus Afghanistan.
Despite taking one of three Afghanistan wickets, Saqib Zulfiqar's place in the team is at risk after he only contributed three runs with the bat at number seven.
England squad: Jos Buttler (c), Moeen Ali, Gus Atkinson, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Dawid Malan, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Harry Brook, Ben Stokes, Brydon Carse, David Willey, Mark Wood, Chris Woakes
Netherlands squad: Scott Edwards (c), Max O'Dowd, Bas de Leede, Vikram Singh, Teja Nidamanuru, Paul van Meekeren, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, Logan van Beek, Aryan Dutt, Ryan Klein, Wesley Barresi, Saqib Zulfiqar, Shariz Ahmad, Sybrand Engelbrecht
Series so far
England
Match One: England lost by 9 wickets
England - 282/9 (50)
New Zealand - 283/1 (36.2)
Match Two: England won by 137 runs
England - 364/9 (50)
Bangladesh - 227 (48.2)
Match Three: England lost by 69 runs
Afghanistan - 284 (49.5)
England - 215 (40.3)
Match Four: England lost by 229 runs
South Africa - 399/7 (50)
England - 170 (22)
Match Five: England lost by 8 wickets
England - 156 (33.2)
Sri Lanka - 160/2 (25.4)
Match Six: England lost by 100 runs
India - 229/9 (50)
England - 129 (34.5)
Match Seven: England lost by 33 runs
Australia - 286 (49.3
England - 253 (48.1)
Netherlands
Match One: Netherlands lost by 81 runs
Pakistan - 286 (49)
Netherlands - 205 (41)
Match Two: Netherlands lost by 99 runs
New Zealand - 322-7 (50)
Netherlands - 223 (46.3)
Match Three: Netherlands won by 38 runs
Netherlands - 245-8 (43)
South Africa - 207 (42.5)
Match Four: Netherlands lost by five wickets
Netherlands - 262 (49.4)
Sri Lanka - 263-5 (48.2)
Match Five: Netherlands lost by 309 runs
Australia - 399/8 (50)
Netherlands - 90 (21)
Match Six: Netherlands won by 87 runs
Netherlands - 229 (50)
Bangladesh - 142 (42.2)
Match Seven: Netherlands lost by seven wickets
Netherlands - 179 (46.3)
Bangladesh - 181-3 (31.3)
We say: England to win
This is time for England to get back to winning ways, surely? We say that with a tinge of doubt due to the lack of confidence within the squad and the current onus to not tinker with the team.
However, if some fresh faces are included, England should win comfortably. There are players desperate to impress on what needs to be day one of a new era for English one-day cricket in a game which they need to win to reduce the risk of finishing bottom ahead of the Pakistan contest.
