“He’s a phenomenal cricketer”: Ben Stokes’ sensational bowling in 4th Test impresses teammate
Overview:
Stokes has 16 wickets for the series, and this was the first time he’d taken five in a match for eight years.
MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Ben Stokes was sensational with the ball and dismissed five Indian batters in the first innings of the fourth Test. The visitors were bowled out for 358 and England wasted no time in chasing down India’s total with openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett on a mission.
The hosts were 77-0 at tea in reply, with Ben Duckett hitting 43 off 41 balls with seven fours, while Zak Crawley was 33 off 44.
The pair kept on finding the boundary when play resumed, and both were looking on course for centuries until India’s breakthrough.
KL Rahul caught Crawley at slip off Ravindra Jadeja, and Duckett was caught by substitute Dhruv Jurel off Anshul Kamboj. Duckett’s head dropped as the realisation sank in that he’d fallen just six short of a test century. He posted 94 runs off 100 balls, laced with 13 fours. On the other hand, Crawley accumulated 84 runs off 113 balls, with the help of 13 fours and 1 six. England were 225/2 in reply to India’s 358 at stumps on Day 2 of the contest.
Meanwhile, Ben Stokes is now the leading wicket-taker for the series after his haul of five in the fourth test.
Stokes added the wickets of Thakur (41), Washington Sundar (27), and Kamboj (0) to those of Shubman Gill (12) and Sai Sudharsan (61) on day one.
Stokes has 16 wickets for the series, and this was the first time he’d taken five in a match for eight years.
“He’s a phenomenal cricketer and it’s so good to have him on our team as a leader and, apart from his skills, it’s just his attitude to keep coming and coming and coming,” Crawley said. “He’s a fantastic bowler that goes under the radar. He’s bowled phenomenally well this series and got its rewards today.”
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