Cricket World Cup: Ben Stokes ton helps sink Netherlands and boosts England's Champions Trophy hopes

England boosted their Champions Trophy qualification hopes, and claimed victory in the unofficial European championship clash, with a dominant win over Netherlands.

The champions’ World Cup defence went up in smoke some time ago, as Jos Buttler’s side failed to get up and running in the tournament.

With two games remaining, all that was left was to prove they were Europe’s top dog - England fans had to cling to something - and haul themselves into the top seven to secure a spot in the Champions Trophy.

Both were accomplished, with England recovering from a mid-innings wobble to claim victory by 160 runs in Pune.

Buttler won the toss and had little hesitation in electing to bat.

Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow got off to a flyer, but the latter departed after making 15.

Malan is one of the few England batters to emerge with credit from a sorry World Cup, and he shrugged off the loss of his opening partner to make 87 off 74 balls.

The departure of Malan led to a flurry of wickets as Harry Brook, Buttler and Moeen Ali fell cheaply.

Ben Stokes stood firm, but required a partner to provide support - and Chris Woakes did that.

The duo propelled England from 192 for 6 to 321 for 7 - with Woakes making 51 and Stokes 108 - as they posted 339 for 9 from their 50 overs.

Netherlands famously chased 374 against West Indies in World Cup qualifying, so had the potential to hunt down a huge score.

But England’s attack is more potent than West Indies’, and Netherlands never looked like chasing the total down from the moment Woakes and David Willey removed Max O’Dowd and Colin Ackerman respectively inside six overs.

England were not perfect in the field, Joe Root dropped a touch chance at slip and Willey shelled one at mid-on he should have held. Those mistakes mattered little as wickets fell at regular intervals.

Netherlands captain Scott Edwards (38) and Teja Nidamanuru (41) hit some big shots, but it was in vain as they were bowled out for 179 in 37.2 overs.

The big win lifted England above Netherlands, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and into seventh in the table; a win in their final game against Pakistan will almost certainly secure Champions Trophy qualification.

Speaking after the match, England captain Buttler praised his team's determination to want to finish the tournament on a high.

"I think everyone's been frustrated, but the guys have stayed tight, everyone's stayed really close and kept working hard.

"I think if you watched training yesterday, the guys probably trained as hard as they trained all trip, which shows the level of commitment and desire to put things right, don't get to the level of player that we've got in the squad without having that personal pride and work ethic and determination to put things right when they're not going the way you want."

On a personal note, it was another tough day for Buttler with the bat, scoring just five runs before being caught at mid-off by Nidamanuru.

Such a disappointing tournament has naturally led to his future as captain coming into question, but with a Caribbean tour facing the West Indies on the horizon, Buttler is determined to keep leading the team.

"Yeah, I'd like to. I know Rob Key [England Men's Managing Director] arrives into India today, I think. So, yeah, we can have some good conversations with him and the coach and everyone and make a plan for that tour. But yeah, I'd like to."

Stokes' century came just days after revealing he will be having knee surgery as soon as he arrives home.

With the Test captain scheduled to return to India for a five-match series at the end of January, Buttler's been asked if it would have been more beneficial for Stokes to leave the group early to bring the procedure forward.

"No, it's not his style at all. He's here to play in the World Cup. He wants to be here and they say it's important for us to try and qualify for that Champions Trophy and he wants to make sure we try and achieve that," Buttler said.

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