Stokes ends two-year wait for Test hundred as England press for India series win
AFP, Manchester:
Ben Stokes ended his more than two-year wait for a Test hundred as England pressed for a series-clinching win against India at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The England captain started the fourth day of the fourth Test on his overnight score of 77 not out.
He went to his century with a leg-glanced four off fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah — his ninth boundary in 164 balls faced.
It was all-rounder Stokes’ first Test hundred in over two years following a whirlwind 155 against Australia at Lord’s in June 2023.
The 34-year-old celebrated his 14th century in 115 Tests by clenching his fist, looking to the sky and making a crooked finger gesture in honour of his late father Ged Stokes before raising his bat to a cheering crowd.
England, already 2-1 up in this five-match series, were now 593-8 — a commanding first-innings lead of 235 runs.
His hundred capped a brilliant display with both bat and ball by Stokes, England’s leading bowler this series, after the lively fast-medium bowler had taken 5-72 in India’s first-innings 358.
Stokes is just the fourth England player to take five wickets and score a hundred in the same Test after Tony Greig, Ian Botham and the currently sidelined Gus Atkinson.
With the pressure of getting to a hundred no longer an issue, Stokes then straight drove Washington Sundar for six — although his expression at the crease suggested he thought he had mishit the delivery — and next ball he reverse swept the off-spinner for four.
England resumed in the commanding position of 544-7, already a lead of 186, after Joe Root had become the second-highest run-scorer in Test history during his majestic 150 on Friday.
Stokes who had briefly retired with cramp before returning on Friday after completing his first fifty this series, was in excellent touch early Saturday.
The left-handed batsman twice cover-drove Mohammed Siraj for superb fours as he went to 88.
But at the other end Liam Dawson, playing his first Test since 2017 after replacing the injured Shoaib Bashir, had added just five runs to his overnight 21 when he was bowled by a Bumrah delivery that kept a touch low — a worrying sign for India’s batsmen.
Stokes charged down the pitch to drive Bumrah for three to go to 99 and then spent several deliveries one run short of three figures, with the world’s top-ranked Test bowler beating the England skipper on the outside edge.