Ben 10: Before Ben Stokes retires from ODIs, here are 10 of his absolute best matches
Ben Stokes. Photo: Getty Image
England cricketer Ben Stokes announced retirement from One Day International (ODI) cricket on Monday (July 18). Stokes, who made his debut against Ireland in 2011, will play his final ODI against South Africa in Durham on Tuesday (July 19).
Stokes in his ODl career has scored 2,919 runs, which includes three centuries and 74 wickets.
Why? Stokes said that the three formats of cricket were just unsustainable for him now. “As hard as a decision as this was to come to, it’s not as hard dealing with the fact that I can’t give my teammates 100% of myself in this format anymore,” Stokes said.
He was recently also appointed as the captain of the Test side after Joe Root stepped down. This was also a reason why he decided to retire from the ODI format.
“Not only do I feel my body is letting me down because of the schedule and what is expected of us, but I also feel that I am taking the place of another player who can give Jos Buttler and rest of the team their all,” Stokes said.
“I have loved all the 104 games I have played so far, I’ve got one more, and it feels amazing to be playing my last game at my home ground in Durham,” Stokes said in his post.
Rob Key, Managing Director of England Men’s Cricket, paid tributes to Stokes. He said, “I know this must have been a tough decision, but I completely understand why he has reached this conclusion,” ICC reported.
Key added that it is typically a selfless decision that will benefit England in the long-term.
The highlights of his career: The biggest highlight of Stokes' ODI career was his unbeaten 85 against New Zealand in the World Cup final in 2019. Stokes took the match to the last ball and the game went for a super over, which England eventually won.
Also, under his captaincy, England finished a 3-0 clean sweep against New Zealand.
Here is a look at Stokes’ top 10 performances:
1. 84* vs New Zealand , ICC Cricket World Cup final, Lord’s 2019
2. The Ashes- Day 4, 2019- Ben Stokes hits 135. Australia needed only 1 wicket to win
3. Stokes hits super-century in an ODI against South Africa in 2017
4. Ben Stokes makes 102 off 109 against Australia, Champions Trophy 2017
What happened last time we played Australia in an ODI?
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 12, 2018
WATCH: https://t.co/iXR7sMoHNh pic.twitter.com/5kt54Crvg5
5. Stokes takes 4-26 and 2-20 and unbeaten 85 against Bangladesh, first Test Chattogram 2016
6. Ben Stokes hits 99 while chasing 337 against India, 2021
The Indian team had set a mammoth target of 337 against England at the Edgbaston ground. Initially, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow started off to a great start and make 110 for the first wicket. Stokes came at the third position and got off to a steady start before he started getting explosive.
Along with Bairstow, he reached the target with 40 balls to spare. Though England won the match, Stokes fell short of one run from his century.
7. 89 vs South Africa, World Cup, 2019
Stokes smashed 89 against South Africa in the first match of ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. Stokes' 9 fours in the match led him to 89, which powered England to a total of 311. South Africa could never get in the match and they lost by 104 runs.
8. 102 vs Australia, Champions Trophy, 2017
Chasing a target of 277, England were in a difficult position when they were down at 35/3. However, a partnership between Eoin Morgan and Ben Stokes pushed England’s score to 194. Stokes got his century and England won the match by Duckworth-Lewis method.
9. 71 vs Pakistan in 2019
Stokes hit 71 against a very skillful bowling unit of Pakistan team that included Junaid Khan, Imad Hussain and Mohammad Hasnain. England, with the help of Stokes’ 71 and Jason Roy’s 114 chased down the target of 340 with three balls to spare.
10. 3-30 against South Africa, Cape Town 2020
It was New Year Test at Newlands against South Africa. South Africa were chasing 438 with 7 wickets down. But for the eighth wicket, Vernon Philander and Dwaine Pretorious were producing some good shots until Stokes took the ball in his own hands.
Stokes tried the reverse-swing and it worked. He finally got Pretorious for the eight wicket. Before SA camp could realise they were in trouble, Stokes got two more wickets and won the match for England.