WHEN BIG BEN STRIKES... 5 MAGIC MOMENTS

AUSTRALIA v ENGLAND 3RD TEST, PERTH, DECEMBER 2013

STOKES hit a brilliant maiden Test century in just his second match. England had been set a nearimpossible 504 to win but the 22-year-old took England much closer to the target than anyone thought possible with a controlled innings that included 19 boundaries. Only David Gower, Alastair Cook and Colin Cowdrey have scored a century in Australia for England at a younger age since the First World War. It was a sign of things to come.

SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND 2ND TEST, CAPE TOWN, JANUARY 2016

STOKES bludgeoned an extraordinary 258 off just 198 balls to record the fastest Test double century for England. He put on 399 for the sixth wicket with Jonny Bairstow, an overall Test record, and he hit 11 sixes, a Test record for England. It is the highest score by a No 6 in Test matches. His knock helped England draw the match and they went on to win the series.

NEW ZEALAND v ENGLAND WORLD CUP FINAL, LORD’S, JULY 2019

AFTER coming in with England struggling well below the required run-rate at 71 for three off almost 20 overs, Stokes hit a sensational 84 — including two sixes in the final nine balls — to take the World Cup final to a super over. Stokes and Jos Buttler then hit 15 off the extra six balls which proved just enough to crown England world champions in the most nail-biting ending imaginable.

ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA 3RD TEST, HEADINGLEY, AUGUST 2019

ENGLAND made just 67 in the first innings and when Stokes came in to bat in the second the game and series were all but lost with the hosts still 218 adrift. In one of the greatest innings ever played, Stokes proceeded to hit 135 not out off 219 balls to win the Test for England.

SOUTH AFRICA v ENGLAND 2ND TEST, CAPE TOWN, JANUARY 2020

AFTER losing the first Test, England desperately needed to bounce back in the second to have any chance of winning the series. With South Africa edging closer to a draw as the fifth day drew to a close, Stokes was handed the ball and duly delivered by dismissing Dwaine Pretorius and Anrich Nortje in consecutive balls and then four overs later got Vernon Philander out to seal England’s first win in Cape Town since 1957.