A brilliant 73 from Jason Roy in his 100th ODI appearance and a superb 77 from opening partner Phil Salt led England to a six-wicket win over the Netherlands in Amstelveen, despite an excellent 78 from Dutch captain Scott Edwards.
After a rain delay saw the game reduced to 41 overs per side, the Netherlands won the toss and decided to bat first. Despite England taking an early stranglehold on the game by reducing the hosts to 39-3 after ten overs, stand-in skipper Edwards led a recovery that saw the Dutch post a respectable 235-7.
Both openers fell cheaply, with 19-year-old Vikramjit Singh out for ten and Max O'Dowd, who scored an impressive 55 in the first ODI, falling for seven. The experienced Tom Cooper was then out lbw to Brydon Carse for 17 in the Durham quick's first over of the series, leaving the Netherlands in serious trouble.
However, Edwards proceeded to lead a fightback, sharing crucial partnerships worth 61 and 73 respectively with Bas de Leede and Teja Nidamanuru. De Leede even shattered a window in the press box with a six off Adil Rashid, before getting caught off Liam Livingstone for 34.
Nidamanuru, meanwhile, scored 28 before getting bowled by the typically impressive David Willey, who picked up 2-46. Unfortunately, Edwards then fell a heartbreaking 22 runs short of a maiden ODI hundred when he was run out by Willey.
Having attempted to steal a two, Edwards was mere millimetres short of his crease after putting in a full-stretch dive. Despite not reaching three figures it was a brilliant knock from the 25-year-old, who has had a very good series with the bat so far after scoring an unbeaten 72 in the first ODI.
Logan van Beek then closed out the innings with a couple of sixes, finishing unbeaten on 30 to push the Netherlands up to 235. Despite their best efforts, it was not enough to trouble the reigning world champions, who proceeded to go 2-0 up in the series.
They ultimately reached their target with 29 balls to spare after Roy led the charge, striking three boundaries in the very first over. Having been out for just one when England broke their own world record on Friday, Roy made sure to cash in as he struck 73 off 60 balls.
Fellow opener Salt also made the most of another opportunity, scoring 77 to go with his stunning century in the first match. England did suffer a brief scare when they lost four wickets for just 38 runs, with the Dutch spinners making an impact.
Teenager Aryan Dutt picked up the wickets of Roy and Salt, before part-timer Cooper dismissed captain Eoin Morgan for a seven-ball duck and Livingstone was bowled for four by debutant Tim Pringle. However, it was too little too late for the Netherlands as Dawid Malan and Moeen Ali combined to see England over the line, scoring 36 and 42 not out respectively.
