WATCH: Ben Stokes notches England’s highest individual ODI score in thumping win over New Zealand
ODI Cricket World Cup champions England sent out a huge message to the other nine teams. England beat New Zealand by a massive 181 runs during the third ODI which was played at Oval on Wednesday. The star of the show with the bat was Ben Stokes. The 32-year-old smashed the highest score by an English batter in ODI cricket as he hit 182 runs of just 124 balls. The knock justifies the decision behind England team management asking Stokes to make his return to ODI cricket.
New Zealand won the toss and in no time Trent Boult showed his class with the ball. The left-arm pacer reduced England to 13/2. Jonny Bairstow was out in the very first ball of the match. This was followed by the wicket of Joe Root for 4 when he was bowled by Boult.
Ben Stokes starry show leads England to a huge win
Ben Stokes then took center stage along with opener Dawid Malan. After a watchful start, the English all-rounder went after the New Zealand bowling unit. He got to his century in 76 deliveries with a single down to long on to massive applause of the fans at Oval. It took 30 more deliveries for Ben Stokes to cross the 150 mark with a six. Batting on 176, Ben Stokes hit a massive six to reach 182. This meant he now held the record for the highest score by an English batter going past 180 by Jason Roy. Ben Stokes tried to hit another six and was out-caught by Will Young off Ben Lister.
The highest ever individual score for England in ODIs – Ben Stokes 182 (124)….!!!
– This is some comeback to the ODIs by Stokes, a champion! pic.twitter.com/ybvR0D8C8e
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) September 13, 2023
Ben Stokes‘ innings helped England reach 368 before they were bowled out in 48.1 overs. Dawid Malan was the 2nd highest scorer with 96. Jos Buttler hit 38 off 24 balls with 6 fours and a six in his innings. Trent Boult picked his sixth fifer in ODI cricket as he ended with figures of 5/51.
Chasing 367 to win, the Kiwis were never in the game as they were all out for 187. Glenn Phillips with 72 was the top scorer. His knock came off 78 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes. Chris Woakes and Liam Livingstone picked 3 wickets each for the home team. Reece Topley picked two wickets while Sam Curran and Moeen Ali picked a wicket each as England won by 181 runs to take 2-1 lead in the series.
