On Friday, England captain Ben Stokes became only the 16th England men’s batter to cross the milestone of 6000 runs in Test cricket. And he did it in some style, smoking off-spinner Todd Murphy for two consecutive sixes in England’s first innings at the Headingley in Leeds.
For the second innings in a row in this Ashes 2023 series, the England skipper, Ben Stokes, waged a lone battle against the Aussies with the bat as he cracked 80 runs out of the total of 237 that England made in reply to Australia’s total of 263 in their first innings in this Test which is a must-win for England, who are trailing by 2-0.
Ben Stokes saw wickets fall before and around him and eventually, as he had to in the Lord’s chase, decided to take the aggressive route to chisel down the deficit quickly. He smoked 6 fours and 5 sixes in his innings of 80 runs, made in 108 balls.
With a couple of biggies to off-spinner Todd Murphy, Ben Stokes scaled down the 6000-run landmark in Test cricket.
Watch: Ben Stokes smoked Murphy for two consecutive big sixes:
Back-to-back SIXES! 🚀
Our captain.
Our Ben Stokes.🏴 #ENGvAUS 🇦🇺 | @IGcom pic.twitter.com/nGhVAZC6ij
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 7, 2023
Despite bowling Australia out for 263 on Day 1, courtesy of Mark Wood’s five-wicket haul, England remained behind in the game as they were bowled out for 237 by Tea on Day 2. Aussie captain Pat Cummins took his first five-wicket haul on English soil as Australia took a slender lead of 26 runs.
With plenty of time left in the game, Australia would want to bat for as long as possible and bat England out of the game. England, though, would be ready to go after any target as they have to win the match to keep the series alive.
Teams:
Australia (Playing XI): David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey(w), Pat Cummins(c), Mitchell Starc, Todd Murphy, Scott Boland
England (Playing XI): Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Harry Brook, Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow(w), Ben Stokes(c), Moeen Ali, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood, Ollie Robinson, Stuart Broad