I feel a pain outside my knee when bowling, reveals Ben Stokes

South Africa and England played a thriller of a cricket match on Saturday. Before heading on the eight edition of ICC Champions Trophy, this short series is seen as the warm-up series. England won the first match of the series and was looking to wrap it up on Saturday. Winning the toss, South African captain AB de Villiers decided to let the home team bat first.

England scored a handsome 330, owing to the superb ton from Ben Stokes. Jos Buttler have him steady support at the fag end of the innings to reach to the mammoth total. But wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock and skipper AB de Villiers were cruising steadily towards the target. Only 7 runs was needed from the last over and well-known big hitters David Miller and Chris Morris were batting.

Fans thought it was all but over for England, but Mark Wood bowled an exceptional last over to clinch the victory and thus the series. After the match, Stokes praised Wood for an exceptional last over. “It shows what a bit of pace on the ball can do (talking about Wood). You want to be in these situations (bowling the last over), and to defend 7 with Miller and Morris out there was brilliant,” said the star all-rounder.

On his injury

Stokes said he is feeling a pain in the outside of the knee when he lands on the floor. The pain is felt only when he is bowling and not during batting. “It’s just the bowling that is affected by the knee. Hopefully, it will be okay in a couple of days. It comes and goes. When I land on the floor, a pain just comes in the outside of my knee. So I am just trying to figure it out at the moment. I bowled only 3 overs today as I was feeling a pain in my knee. So Morgy (skipper Eoin Morgan) opted to get me out and then use the other bowlers,” quoted Ben Stokes.

Stokes said he wants to carry his red-hot form in the ICC Champions Trophy 2017. The Man of the Match for Saturday’s match concluded by saying “It’s always nice hitting the ball well with good form behind you. Jos hit the ball well too. I hope to continue this form in the Champions Trophy.”