England captain Ben Stokes produced another miraculous innings as he scored 155 (214) against Australia in the second Ashes 2023 Test at Lord's. Although his knock came in a losing cause, Stokes proved once again why he is considered one of the most clutch players in the world under extreme pressure.
The game seemed done and dusted when Australia got the wicket of Jonny Bairstow and reduced England to 193/6 as they chased 371. However, Stokes waged a lone battle as he smashed sixes for fun and brought England ever so close to what could have been a famous win.
The southpaw was understandably distraught when he was finally dismissed by Josh Hazlewood. However, the Australian players congratulated the England captain on a wonderful knock as he walked back to a thunderous round of applause and a standing ovation from the crowd.
Fans and also some cricketers on Twitter were thrilled to see Ben Stokes almost pull off another incredible win for England, just like he did at Headingley in 2019. Here are some of the reactions:
Ben Stokes changed gears at the right time, but just had too much to do
Stokes' knock was arguably the ideal representation of how England could have approached their Bazball ideology. The southpaw batted conservatively for the first half of his innings and held an end to allow others to bat around him.
When Stokes realized that only he stood between Australia and victory, he changed gears and began to find sixes at regular intervals. Australia also dropped a couple of chances to dismiss him, but fortune favors the brave and Stokes was certainly brave enough.
It seemed like Stokes would carry England to another miraculous win, but it wasn't to be as Australia changed their plans and bowled wider. Stokes skied one with 70 runs needed to win and Alex Carey completed an easy catch. Australia ended up winning the game by 43 runs to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
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