Ben Stokes dismissed any scepticism about his ability to play 50-over cricket after 14 months of ODI retirement at the KIA Oval. As he continued, he claimed the record for the highest score by an Englishman in the format with 182 off 124 to set up a resounding victory over New Zealand. He had already scored his fourth century in the format from 76 balls.
Stokes left the pitch in the third over with Trent Boult swinging the new ball and England struggling at 13 for 2, but he and Dawid Malan had a third-wicket partnership of 199 runs in 165 balls. When he faced Lockie Ferguson, he launched a vicious attack, scoring 56 runs off the 30 balls he faced; in total, Ferguson's nine overs yielded 80 runs.
Stokes decided to stand and deliver the speech while he battled his knee issue. He hit nine sixes in all, including six in the last 31 balls. The sell-out crowd stood to cheer the hero of England's 2019 World Cup victory as he holed out to square leg while trying to hit a tenth, doubtless believing that he could still motivate them to a successful defence of their title in India.
He claimed, "I actually didn't know [about the record] until the guy on the tannoy stated it and then I got out next ball. In 50-over cricket, we usually want to go out and put on big scores, but it was a matter of knowing how much more time I had. "There were a couple of stages where I was scoring quite freely and felt like I wanted to keep going and going and going," the batsman said.
Stokes was absent from the pitch for the first part of New Zealand's innings but maintains that his knee is "getting better and better". I merely needed a little bit of treatment, he declared. One-day games don't provide a rest, but test matches are lengthier. These first three games have been strong, despite the fact that it's different.
The notional pursuit of 369 by New Zealand quickly devolved into glorified middle practise. Phillips, who scored a career-high 72, was the only batter to reach 30 as New Zealand crumbled for 187. Chris Woakes bowled eight overs on the reel from the Pavilion conclude to conclude the game. He finished his opening spell with 3 for 31.