Stokes leads England unbelievable victory
Photo - ICC
|| CF Correspondent ||
Ben Stokes struck a stunning unbeaten century to lead England to an unbelievable victory in the third Test and thereby level the ongoing Ashes series by 1-1.
The all-rounder brought up all of his stamina and skill in his 135-run not out as England narrowly edged past Australia by one wicket, gunning down a 359-run target. This was their highest successful chase in the Test history.
England, bowled out for just 67 in their first innings, needed 73 more runs to reach a victory target of 359 when last man, the bespectacled Jack Leach came into bat.
But Leach held firm before Stokes hit the winning runs by flaying Pat Cummins for four that ensured England’s dramatic victory.
Starting the day looking to prevent Australia from retaining the Ashes, England were 286-9, still 73 runs short of their target. The tourists needed only a victory to keep the urn in their possession.
However with one wicket left, England one-day World Cup hero Stokes knew everything depended on him and he smashed a remarkable eight sixes to all corners of the ground to get England within touching distance of their highest-ever second-inning total to win a Test match.
Nathan Lyon missed an easy run-out chance to dismiss England No 10 batsman Jack Leach and Stokes survived loud lbw shouts, with Australia unable to review, before, fittingly Stokes hit the winning boundary to spark euphoria at Headingly.
