England’s ‘super-human’ Stokes revels in ultimate vindication

England’s Ben Stokes in action – Reuters

LONDON (Reuters): Most players would have been broken by what happened at the end of the T20 World Cup final in 2016 but Ben Stokes, the bowler destroyed by West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite, is made of sterner stuff and three years on was England’s one-day hero on their greatest day.

The picture of Stokes slumped on his haunches, bewildered and bemused after conceding four successive sixes in the last over in that final defeat must have hurt, as must the long and tortuous strain of his court case after an assault charge interrupted his career before he was cleared of affray last August.

On Sunday at Lord’s, however, he played one of the all-time great World Cup innings – not once but twice – as England won the trophy for the first time on boundary count following a Super Over after tieing twice with New Zealand.

With England struggling at 86-4 on a pitch proving more than troublesome, Stokes began the cautious but effective 110-run partnership with Jos Buttler that swung the game back in England’s direction.

When wickets began to tumble at the other end, Stokes increased the tempo, though with 15 needed off the final over it seemed as if he had left it too late.

Two dot balls swung the odds even further towards New Zealand but Stokes smashed a magnificent six over mid-wicket.

Then came one of those crazy cricketing moments that will be relived for years as, with Stokes desperately diving to complete a second run, Martin Guptil’s throw deflected off his bat and ran all the way to the boundary to chalk up another six runs. His attempt to get the two runs needed off the final ball fell one short and Stokes threw his bat to the ground in disgust. But his day was not done as, 20 minutes later, he strode back to the middle with Buttler for the Super Over.