Cricketers of the Week: 27th May to 3rd June

#4 Ben Stokes (101 and 1/12 v South Africa)

Stokes is well on his way to becoming the world’s best all-rounder

Stokes is rising in stature each day and he showed that against a high quality South African team with both bat and ball. Stokes scored a sizzling 101 off just 79 balls, pushing England’s score to 330. He had walked in at 80 for 3 in the 16^th over and by the time he was dismissed, England had reached 252 for 3 in only the 44^th over.

He came back and picked the big wicket of Hashim Amla, breaking the 56-run first wicket partnership. Eventually, he was the difference between the two teams as South Africa came within sniffing distance of that huge total in the second ODI of the three-match series.

SA lost by just two runs, David Miller’s 51-ball 71 proving to be futile.