England beat West Indies by 10 wickets on Day 3 of the third Test to complete cleansweep. After Mark Wood's fifer wrecked West Indies' batting lineup, England needed to chase down a small target of 82 at Edgbaston Birmingham. Surprisingly, skipper Ben Stokes came out to open the innings alongside Ben Duckett. Stokes was in a hurry to finish off the game and got to his half-century in just 24 balls. He broke the record for the fastest Test fifty for England.
The previous record belonged to legendary England all-rounder Ian Botham. He scored a half-century from just 28 balls against India in 1981.
When asked about breaking Botham’s record, Stokes said, “Bottle of champagne would probably be more appreciated. Pretty cool to go past Beefy (Botham) with that one.”
Fastest fifties in Test cricket
Stokes' 24-ball fifty is also the third-fastest in Test cricket history. He shares the spot with former South Africa all-rounder Jacques Kallis who achieved the feat against Zimbabwe in 2005. The top spot belongs to former Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq who scored a 21-ball fifty against Australia in 2014. He is followed by former Australia opener David Warner with a 23-ball fifty against Pakistan in 2017.
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Stokes goes haywire
Stokes opened the account with a boundary off the third ball he faced from Alzarri Joseph. In the third over, he hit Joseph for three fours. Ben Duckett just gave the strike back to Stokes who did the damage. It seemed as if he was gearing up for the ongoing The Hundred 2024 and impressing his captain Harry Brook. Stokes got to his fifty with a six off Shamar Joseph in the seventh over. In the next over bowled by skipper Kraigg Brathwaite, Stokes smashed another six to finish off the game. He remained unbeaten for 57 off 28 balls including nine fours and a couple of sixes.
Another Test record
Stokes and Duckett shared an unbeaten 87-run partnership from just 44 balls. The run rate of 11.86 is the highest for a fifty-plus partnership for any wicket in Test cricket history. The previous record belonged to New Zealand's Trent Boult and Neil Wagner with a 27-ball 52 partnership at 11.55 runs per over against England in 2013.
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