Kemar Roach rattles Ben Stokes’ woodwork with a vicious in-swinger

Ben Stokes has been unstoppable in the last year or so. After his heroics in the 2019 World Cup, he has grown leaps and bounds. Following the mega event, he churned out a masterful century against Australia at Leeds in the Ashes that helped England snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Even in the ongoing Test series against the West Indies, Stokes has managed to weave magic.

In the first Test at the Rose Bowl in Southampton, he had a rough time as the Brits lost by four wickets. Stokes stood in for Joe Root, who was with his family for the birth of his child. He also came under fire for dropping Stuart Broad from the playing eleven. From the personal viewpoint, he did well as he got scores of 43 and 46 and also churned out an impressive four-wicket haul.

Thereafter, he went on to become the number one all-rounder in Test cricket. Then at the Old Trafford in Manchester, he was at his very best. Though he got only three wickets with the ball in hand, his batting tormented Jason Holder and Co. The left-handed batter notched 176 and an unbeaten 78 runs respectively, taking the Three Lions to a victory by a mammoth 113 runs.

Roach castles Ben Stokes

However, the third Test didn’t start on a happy note for the New Zealand-born. He came out to bat after skipper Root was run out with England’s score at 47 for two in 21.3 overs. Stokes tried to put his head down and stave off the bowling. But Kemar Roach cut short his stay in the middle.

Roach picked up the big wicket when England’s score was 92. Stokes and Rory Burns were looking good with a partnership of 45 runs. But in the last ball of the 35th over, Roach managed to run through Stokes’ defence. The speedster bowled outside the off-stump and got the ball to jag back.

Stokes went for a defensive stroke, but couldn’t get bat to ball. The ball snuck through his bat and pad and rattled his woodwork. After getting bowled, Stokes gave a rather surprised look. He would be disappointed as he was looking well set on 20 off 43 with a couple of fours.

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