Ben Stokes hugs Moeen Ali in celebration and ends up punching Adil Rashid

He missed the second match of the ongoing Test series because of a trial on charges of affray outside a bar in Bristol a year ago. He was acquitted on all charges and didn’t face any legal consequences but Ben Stokes almost unintentionally ended up landing on soft punch on Adil Rashid’s nose during Day 4 of the fourth Test against India in Southampton.

England wrapped up the game inside four days and clinched the series 3-1 with one more match to be played at the Oval. Chasing a target of 245, India couldn’t have had a worse start as they slipped to 22 for 3. Captain Virat Kohli (58) and deputy Ajinkya Rahane (51) put up a resistance with a 101-run partnership but once Kohli was back, India buckled and were all out for 184, losing the game by 60 runs.

It was when Moeen Ali took a wicket that Stokes with all excitement hugged him during a team celebration and his fist that was going around Ali landed on Rashid’s face who was standing right behind them. It was not a serious knock and Stokes would be happy that he did not end up hurting his team-mate even unintentionally.

A Twitter user shared the video with a funny caption: “Ben Stokes is at it again. Poor Adil Rashid.”

Here is the video:

Moeen Ali & Sam Curran turned it for England

For England, Ali’s nine-wicket haul in the match and youngster Sam Curran’s flourish with the bat down the order (78 and 46 in two innings) made the difference between the two sides. Though Indian bowlers did well to restrict England twice under 300, their batsmen couldn’t really show the mettle to level the series. Cheteshwar Pujara was the star in the first innings, scoring an unbeaten 132, but the visitors failed to fire as a team.

The final Test begins at the Oval on September 7 and the Indian side could think of making the opportunity for uncapped players like Prthvi Shaw to make their international debut. The clamour grew before the fourth Test to drop KL Rahul who is having a forgettable series and replace him with Shaw. It might be a reality now in the last match.

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