Ben Stokes dominated the proceedings for a better part of Day 5 to keep England’s hopes in run chase at Lord’s alive. Stokes scored 155 in run chase but it wasn’t enough to get England over the line. Similar to his Headingley heist, Stokes frustrated Australian pacers and countered their short ball barrage with big hits. Stokes’ knock impressed former Indian skipper Virat Kohli who lauded the England captain in a tweet.
“I wasn’t joking about calling Ben Stokes the most competitive bloke I’ve played against. Innings of the highest quality but Australia is too good at the moment,” Kohli wrote in a tweet on July 2.
Last year, Kohli had commented on Stokes Instagram 'You're the most competitive bloke I've ever played against. Respect" as the latter announced his retirement from ODIs.
"Look, Virat, he is going to go down as one of the greatest ever players to play the game in all three formats. He is a phenomenal player. And I have absolutely loved every time I have played against someone like him. The energy and the commitment that he gives to the game is something I have always really admired even before I started playing against him," Stokes had replied to Kohli’s praise before his farewell ODI last year.
The England captain embarked on a six-hitting rampage after Alex Carey pulled off a deeply-divisive stumping of Bairstow, making 155 as he sought to fashion an unthinkable sequel to his 2019 miracle at Headingley.
But this time a finish line of 371 was too far away. England finished 327 all out as they went down by 43 runs to trail 2-0 in the series with three to play. But this gripping fifth day finish will live long in the memory, not just for Stokes’ classic, but the unprecedented anger on show at the home of cricket.
“Having experienced something similar, you are able to look back at it. Did take a lot out of Headingley but unfortunately not to be. Definitely felt we had a shout, but Australia changed their plans and that changed things for me. I had to take my risks to the longer side of the ground. Tough one to swallow, but it was a fantastic game. We are 2-0 down but we got 3 games to go,” Stokes said in the post-match presentation.
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