Ben Stokes who just came out of ODI retirement struck the highest score by an England batsman in an ODI on Wednesday, scoring a blistering 182 runs off 124 balls.
Ben Stokes on his Record-Breaking 182 Runs
Announcing his return in the 3rd ODI of the bilateral series between the 2019 World Cup finalists, Ben Stokes played a blinder of a knock to help England recover from a precarious situation.
The 3rd ODI game of the New Zealand tour of England 2023 was scheduled to be played on September 13 in Kennington Oval, London. Winning the toss, New Zealand decided to bowl first where Boult bagged the first wicket by dismissing Bairstow for a golden duck without letting the opponent score a single run.
Soon Joe Root too dismissed for 4 runs while England scored just 13 runs. Malan and Stokes who joined hands for the 3rd wicket made a massive 199-run stand and pushed the team’s score beyond 200 runs. England scored 368 runs for 10 wickets loss at the end of 48.1 overs.
Stokes’ stunning 124-ball innings, including 15 fours and nine sixes, surpassed Jason Roy’s previous England record of 180 against Australia in Melbourne in 2018.
Stokes and Malan have surpassed Eoin Morgan and Joe Root’s memorable stand of 198 against New Zealand in Nottingham in 2015. While Stokes smashed the fastest century of his ODI career, England’s Malan (96) missed out on his ton as the star batter was dismissed by Trent Boult in the 32nd over.
Stokes brought up his century in just 76 balls as England recovered from 13-2 to end up posting a challenging total against New Zealand.
Speaking on his impressive knock, Ben Stokes said “Really pleased. Apologise to Jason (Jason Roy – for breaking his record of highest individual score for England). We spoke about putting New Zealand under pressure and get to a good start and even after losing those early wickets, we wanted to be positive”.
“Once we got going, we didn’t want them (bowlers) to settle. As experienced players, we need to guide the younger players. He (Malan) is a very consistent player, he is a very quality player, rotates the strike very well as well and missed out on the milestone after getting a strangle down leg. I’m feeling much better, Test matches are a bit longer but ODIs surely are not that demanding”, he added.
ODI 💯 #4 🙌
Just 76 balls! 😅@IGCom | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/FaVlwikMbB
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) September 13, 2023
Now in 108 ODIs, he has scored 3,159 runs at an average of 40.50. His runs have come at a strike rate of 96.36. He has scored four centuries and 22 half-centuries in 93 innings, with the best score of 182.
England is leading the series 2-1 with a match to go. Both teams will play the last game of the series on September 15 in Lord’s, London.
