Jason Roy stars as England wrap up Netherlands series with six-wicket win

Roy was one of the few England batters to miss out in their world record 498 for four 48 hours earlier but, in a contest reduced to 41 overs per side, he hit top form to hasten their pursuit of 236.

Five of his first nine balls were dispatched for four and while he was unable to mark his landmark appearance with a century, his acceleration at the start proved crucial in a six-wicket win.

Phil Salt followed up his century in Friday’s series opener with 77 off 54 balls although there was a second successive duck for captain Eoin Morgan as England endured a mid-innings wobble, with the Dutch showing some admirable resilience after suffering their heaviest ODI defeat by runs on Friday.

It was ultimately in vain as Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali knocked off the remaining 59 runs required to help England overhaul their opponents’ 235 for seven with 29 balls to spare on a sunny evening in Amstelveen, where the start of play had been delayed for nearly three hours because of a wet outfield.

David Willey and Adil Rashid each collected two wickets while Brydon Carse showcased his impressive pace in his one for 36 after Netherlands captain Scott Edwards – standing in for Pieter Seelaar, whose back injury led him to announce his international retirement during the game – had opted to bat.

That decision may have been influenced by England’s sensational innings on Friday and though Roy was dismissed for just one then, he rose to the occasion here.

As has been customary throughout his time with England, Roy began with plenty of purpose and three cover drives in the opening over beat the infield.

Salt was initially content to defer to his senior opening partner but got into the groove by driving slow left-armer Tim Pringle, the son of former New Zealand seamer Chris, who had been introduced in the fifth over in an attempt to stymie England’s scoring.

Roy got to his fifty in the 12th over and looked to take down Aryan Dutt, hammering him to the leg-side for six before, in the next over, taking four fours in the first five balls. The last just cleared mid-off before he sliced the next delivery to short third man, visibly furious with himself as he trudged off.

The breakthrough ended a 139-run opening partnership in 17 overs, leaving Salt to act as the steady hand. However, he came down the track to Dutt and misjudged the length, bowled between bat and pad.

Morgan’s lean trot continued when a hack was caught at backward point and Liam Livingstone came and went as Pringle claimed his maiden international scalp, with England losing three wickets in 19 deliveries.

Malan was given out lbw on 19 after being hit on his back leg only to overturn the decision for the second match in a row, but despite a few nervy moments, Roy’s early onslaught meant England had time on their hands.

Malan (36 not out) released some pressure when Teja Nidamanuru dragged down, thrashing him over midwicket, while Moeen (42 not out) took three fours in four balls off Tom Cooper before finishing proceedings off 36.1 overs with a pull for four off seamer Shane Snater.

Earlier, an initially sluggish outfield meant the Dutch openers found scoring tricky and they both perished with cross-batted shots, Vikramjit Singh surprised by Willey’s short ball and miscuing a pull while Malan sprung to take a fine catch at square leg after Max O’Dowd had swept hard at Rashid.

Carse was touching 90mph and accounted for Cooper, who was trapped on the crease and wisely elected against a review despite the hosts slipping to 36 for three. Edwards, though, queried an lbw verdict after playing round Rashid’s leg-break and was vindicated as the ball would have missed off stump.

While Bas de Leede (34) became the second Dutch batter in this series to shatter a press box window pane after heaving Rashid for six, it was Edwards who anchored the innings.

He was initially troubled by Carse’s speed but milked Moeen’s off-spin before growing gradually in confidence, hammering Livingstone over cow corner and Carse high over his head as he reached his second fifty of the series in style.

An audacious reverse ramp for six off Willey was the highlight, but the left-armer had his revenge with a pick-up-and-throw from midwicket that cannoned into the stumps and left the Tonga-born, Australia-raised Edwards short of his ground despite a desperate dive as he departed for 78 off 73 balls.