89 (115) vs Australia (ICC world cup 2019, Lords)
Australia batted first in Lords to make a decent total of 285 on the board. Continued by the dominating Australian bowlers show, which led Ben Stokes walking in at 26/3.
Mitchell Starc was at his top-notch then. The first ball Ben Stokes faced was a deadly outswinger, and he got relieved from it with an unsettled push.
The ball was moving both sides as Stokes was finding it difficult to get off the mark. He then faced a Jason Behrendorff’s unplayable delivery, which had beaten him outside off. Australians kept the pressure building for Stokesy.
It was when Behrendorff came in to bowl the 11th over, Ben Stokes decided to go hard. He stepped down and made a slap at the covers to get his first boundary. It took 12 balls for Stokesy to get off the mark.
Facing Nathan Lyon at that situation would have been the last thing any left-handed batsman would wish. But Stokes had other ideas. He shuffled outside off to get on with his comfortable sweep shots.
The sweep shot boundary at the square leg region of Lyon’s turner made Ben more comfortable with the off-spinner. And at the same time, it troubled Lyon from bowling his stock deliveries.
Later when Ben Stokes started to feel his zone by rotating the strike, Pat Cummins’s short-pitched delivery helped Stokes free his arms further with a pull shot. He then stepped down the pitch frequently to overcome the extra bounces from the wicket.
A clip at the square leg region brought in the half century of Ben Stokes in 75 balls, which he didn’t celebrate much. He knew he had a lot to do for his side yet.
Meanwhile Stokes suffered from his calf cramps due to the severe humid condition. He required the England physio to come in to rescue him from the pain.
Ben Stokes continued his innings with the pain. When Glenn Maxwell was brought in as the fifth bowler for Australia, Stokesy made good use of it. He smashed the offie off for two huge sixes.
