England national cricket team captain Ben Stokes has achieved a huge feat in the history of Test cricket. He became the third all-rounder after Garry Sobers and Jacques Kallis to complete 6000 runs and 200 wickets in the longest format of the game.
Ben Stokes achieved the feat in the ongoing Test match against the West Indies National Cricket Team. The first match of the three-match series between the teams is being held at the Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, which began on Wednesday (July 10).
Ben Stokes joined the elite list of all-rounders after removing Kirk McKenzie in the second innings of the ongoing Test match against West Indies. The all-rounder trapped the batsman lbw to take the second wicket of the innings and complete his 200th wicket.
Ben Stokes bowled a powerful inswing which unravelled the batsman and hit him straight on to the pads. The batsman opted for DRS in the hope that the hat ball might bowl. The ball hit him on the back pad in line with the leg stump and the DRS showed that the ball would have hit the leg stump.
Here is the video:
Kallis, Sobers, Stokes and only legends please. #EnglandCricket | #ENGvWI image.twitter.com/zQADWlbOnJ
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 11, 2024
Ben Stokes, who is often regarded as the man with the golden arm, struck on the third ball of his first over and provided England with the second wicket. This was his 200th wicket in Test cricket and of his 100 were in home conditions and 100 in away conditions, which speaks volumes about his calibre as a player.
Double of over 6000 runs and over 200 wickets in Tests
Garry Sobers (8032 and 235)
Jacques Kallis (13289 and 292)
Ben Stokes (6320 and 200)*
This was also Ben Stokes’ 300th wicket in international cricket. He also became only the sixth player in the history of the game to complete a double of 10,000 runs and 300 wickets in international cricket.
Here is the list of 10k and 300 wicket doubles in international cricket
Carl Hooper
S Jayasuriya
Jacques Kallis
Shahid Afridi
Shakib Al-Hasan
Ben Stokes*
Ben Stokes sacks Mikyle Louis after firing Kirk McKenzie
After removing Kirk McKenzie, Ben Stokes made sure that he got another wicket in a short period of time. The all-rounder removed Mikyle Louis and made sure that it didn’t take long for him to get his 201st wicket in Test cricket and put his team in a strong position.
Ben Stokes bowled an outswinger off the off stump which Mikyle Louis tried to defend but played a bit wide of the body and ended up tagging him. Wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Smith took a regulation catch behind the stumps to send the batsman packing.
Going into the match, England seem to be the favourites to win the match. They have picked up 5 wickets in the second innings and left West Indies reeling at 55/5. The visitors are still on the hook for 195 runs and it won’t be a surprise if the hosts win the match by a huge margin.
