Today we will talk about the best performances in test cricket about a player who has revolutionized the game of test cricket since becoming captain. The England team play test cricket with an attacking mindset just like they play ODIs. It is very refreshing to see and it scares the opposition and they do not know what to do. And the leader behind this change is Ben Stokes who is the captain and himself one of the best all rounders in test cricket. We will talk about his records below.
Ben Stokes has been playing test cricket since 2013 and for 9 years he has been at the top with both bat and ball. He has played 86 Test Matches till now and has scored 5429 runs at an average of 36.18 with 12 Test hundreds and 1 Double Hundred as well. And not only that he has also taken 192 test wickets till now at an average of 31.52 with 4 Five wicket hauls till now and very soon. He will reach 5500 test runs and 200 test wickets. So, let’s see the Top 5 Best Performances of Ben Stokes in test cricket.
258 vs South Africa (2016)
This was one of the most brutal Test Innings of all time comparable to the one Wasim Akram played a few years before him. England were batting first in this match and Ben Stokes came out at number 6 and from ball 1 just going after the South Africa bowling and he batted for 198 balls and he scored 258 runs by smashing 30 Fours and 11 sixes which means a total of 186 runs in boundaries. He was striking at a mind boggling 139.30 in a test innings and that broke the back of South Africa and Ben Stokes gave a great idea as to how he was going to play test cricket going forward.
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135* vs Australia (2019)
This test innings in my opinion is the greatest 4th innings effort along with Kusal Perera of Sri Lanka who made 153* to win. This was Ben Stokes at his outrageous best and he single handedly won that test match against Australia and Stunned the world. In the 4th innings England needed 359 to win and all the Wickets were falling from one end and it came down to the last wicket where Jack Leach gave the perfect support to Ben Stokes. They had a 76 run last wicket stand and Ben Stokes made 75 off those. He faced 219 balls in this epic and he hit 11 fours and 8 Sixes which means a total of 92 runs in boundaries. His strike rate was 61.64 and he won the match by 1 wicket.
Also Read | Top 5 Best bowling Performances of Stuart Broad in Test cricket
176 and 78* vs West Indies (2020)
This was an all round batting performance by Ben Stokes in 2020 when Covid was at its peak and this performance gave England fans a sense of happiness. In the first innings he made a brilliant 176 runs in 356 balls showing that he can play the aggressive innings as well as build the Innings and play slow. He hit 17 fours and 2 sixes in this innings meaning a total of 80 runs in boundaries. His strike rate was 49.44 and this innings ensured that England get 469 in the first innings. Then in the third Innings he came out to open and decimated the bowling as he hit 78* from only 57 balls with the help of 4 fours and 3 sixes meaning 34 runs in boundaries and his strike rate was 136.84 and due to his brilliance England won this match by 113 runs.
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6/36 vs Australia (2015)
This was the second 5 wicket haul for Ben Stokes in test cricket but the first one that led to a famous win for England in 2015. This was the match where Stuart Broad got 8 wickets for 15 runs and in the 3rd innings of this test match Australia were behind the 8 ball and Ben Stokes took full advantage of that and in the 21 overs he bowled he only gave away 36 runs and he got 6 Wickets for his efforts and as a result England won this test match by an innings and 78 runs. This performance gave him a lot of confidence that he could bowl long spells and win matches.
Also Read | Top 5 Best Innings of Kevin Pietersen
6/22 vs West Indies (2017)
This is the 4th Five wicket haul for Ben Stokes in test cricket and it came at Lord’s and against West Indies which resulted in a good win for England. In the first innings West Indies were nowhere In the game and they were destroyed by Ben Stokes and he bowled 14.3 overs for just 22 runs and got 6 Wickets and West Indies were all out for only 123 runs. Ben Stokes waa getting more and more confident as a fast bowler and England won this match by 9 wickets. Ben Stokes has a lot of years of test cricket left in him and he will score lots more runs and take a lot of wickets by the time his career is over.
Also Read: Top 5 Best Performances of Joe Root
