Why are Mark Wood and Liam Livingstone not playing ICC World Cup 2023, match 40 against Netherlands?

England and the Netherlands square off in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023 on Wednesday, November 8 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

England, who are languishing at the bottom of the table and have already been eliminated, made two changes to the playing XI that played in their previous game against Australia. Pacer Mark Wood and all-rounder Liam Livingstone were replaced by talented youngsters - Gus Atkinson and Harry Brook. The Netherlands, on the other hand, made just one change to their playing XI from their last game against Afghanistan. Teja Nidamanuru came into the side in place of Saqib Zulfiqar.

Wood has bent his back and bowled at rapid speeds in testing conditions during the World Cup. However, things have just not gone his way. In seven games, the 33-year-old picked up just six wickets at an average of 58.17 and an economy rate of 6.46. Meanwhile, Livingstone has also had a woeful campaign with just 60 runs in six games at a paltry average of 10 and a strike rate of 63.83. With the ball, he has picked up three wickets. With an eye on the future, England have brought in Brook and Atkinson and will hope that the exciting duo will help them end their five-match losing streak at the fag end of the league stage.

While England have already been eliminated from the World Cup, they still have a chance to secure qualification for the 2025 ICC Champions Trophy with a finish inside the top eight on the points table.

What did the captains say at the toss?

Buttler won the toss and opted to bat first. He felt that the wicket looked good and laid emphasis on trusting each other in this tough phase for English cricket. Scott Edwards said that he is proud of his team and hoped to finish the campaign with strong performances in their two remaining matches.

"We will have a bat. Looks a good wicket, need to post a good score. Crucial matches for us, we need to win these games. Huge room for improvement. Need to play a good game of cricket. We need to trust in ourselves. Desperate to do things right. Wood and Livingstone are out, Brook and Atkinson are in," Buttler said.

Scott Edwards said: "We have spoken about it as a group, need to play good cricket. Proud of the way the guys have played. Two more games for to show more improvement. We have shown good signs as a batting group. Teja Nidamanuru comes in for Zulfiqar."

England (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Harry Brook, Jos Buttler (WK/C), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, David Willey, Gus Atkinson, Adil Rashid

Netherlands (Playing XI): Wesley Barresi, Max O'Dowd, Colin Ackermann, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (WK/C), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Roelof van der Merwe, Aryan Dutt, Paul van Meekeren