Trent-Bridge – 71 runs from Ben Stokes steered England to victory vs. Pakistan this evening. Ben’s pounding pull for a single in the 49th over was enough to take England over the line.
This 3 wicket win, gives England an unassailable 3-0 lead in the 5 match ODI series.
Pakistan set England 341 to win. Many sound judges thought this total was vulnerable on such a high scoring ground.
Jason Roy and James Vince gave the innings a solid start. The openers scoring 94 for the first wicket in 13.3 overs.
Roy (114) gave a masterclass in one-day batting and rightly took all the media plaudits. With his usual elegance, James was Roy’s invaluable ally scoring 43 runs in 39 balls (6 fours).
Joe Root (36) and Roy then shared a partnership of 107 in 15 overs. The scoreboard reading 208-3, when Joe became the third England batter to be dismissed.
Enter Ben Stokes. First, there was a mini wobble with 2 wickets falling for 8 runs. Then there was the comeback, for both England and Ben’s batting
With the World Cup closing in, this was the right moment for Ben to hit form. Aided by Joe Denly (17), Tom Curran (31) and Adil Rashid (12no) Ben had precious overs on his side. These gave him the time to dust off all his destructive, match winning batting skills.
Ben’s innings of 71no came off 64 balls (5 fours, 3 sixes) with a Strike-Rate of 110.94. This innings was a return to Ben’s trademark thumping power-hitting. Just as importantly, his innings pulled England from the hole they had dug earlier.
With one match remaining in this series, all Phoenix Management Group’s family members (Jos Buttler, Joe Root, Ben Stokes and James Vince) have guilt-edge claims to be in England’s final World Cup squad.
(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)