England captain Ben Stokes etched his name in the history books as he entered an elite company featuring legends Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis on Saturday, July 26. Stokes brought up his 14th Test century on Day 4 of the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford in Manchester.
During his innings, he also completed 7000 runs in Tests and became just the third player in the history of the game to achieve the double of 7000 runs and 200 wickets in the longest format, after Sobers and Kallis. It was the first century for Stokes in the longest format since June 2023.
Earlier, the England skipper also picked up a five-wicket haul on Day 2, which was his fifth in Tests and the first after 2017. Hence Stokes also became the fifth captain in the history of the game to take a five-wicket haul and score a century in the same match and also the fourth England cricketer to achieve the feat.
Stokes added 142 runs for the fifth wicket with Joe Root on Day 3, before going off the field due to cramps. He further returned to continue his innings late in the day and got involved in another massive 95-run stand with Brydon Carse for the ninth wicket.
ENG vs IND 4th Test Day 4 Updates
He was finally dismissed for 141 (198) as he holed out to long on against Ravindra Jadeja. Stokes smashed 11 fours and three sixes in his innings, helping England post a massive score of 669 in the first innings and take a massive lead of 311 runs in the first innings. Apart from him, Joe Root also scored a sensational 150 (248) while Ben Duckett (94), Zak Crawley (84) and Ollie Pope (71) also played magnificent knocks.
For India, Ravindra Jadeja emerged as the pick of the bowlers, registering figures of 4/143 while Washington Sundar (2/107) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/112) also scalped two wickets each.
– Ends