England recall Brook and Atkinson, bat against Netherlands
England recalled batsman Harry Brook and fast bowler Gus Atkinson as they tried to avoid yet more World Cup humiliation against the Netherlands in Pune on Wednesday.
Reigning champions England came into this match rock bottom of the 10-team table, having failed to qualify for the semi-finals following a woeful title defence that had seen them win just one of their preceding seven group games, against Bangladesh.
Brook replaced all-rounder Liam Livingstone, who averages just 10 in the tournament, and Atkinson replaced fellow fast bowler Mark Wood, who has been carrying a knee injury and taken six six wickets at an expensive 58.16 apiece.
England captain Jos Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first, with his team needing a win to maintain their hopes of qualifying for the 2025 Champions Trophy.
The Netherlands are ninth in the standings after a shock win over semi-finalists South Africa, with the non-Test side also defeating Bangladesh.
They made one change, with Teja Nidamanuru replacing fellow all-rounder Saqib Zulfiqar.
Both England and the Netherlands still have something to play for in India as the top seven teams at the World Cup will qualify for the Champions Trophy, along with hosts Pakistan.
A participation fee of some $500,000 from the International Cricket Council would represent a major cash injection for the Netherlands.
England have won all six of their one-day internationals against the Netherlands, posting an ODI record total of 498 in the opening match of a three-game series in Amstelveen last year.
But the Netherlands enjoyed a dramatic last-ball win over England in the opening match of the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup at Lord's and repeated that success with a 45-run victory at the 2014 edition in Bangladesh.
Squad
England: Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (capt/wkt), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson and Adil Rashid.
Netherlands: Max O'Dowd, Wesley Barresi, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt/wkt), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt and Paul van Meekeren.
Umpires: Ahsan Raza (PAK) and Rod Tucker (AUS)
TV Umpire: Marais Erasmus (RSA)
Match Referee: Andy Pycroft (ZIM)