The Miracle Man - BEN STOKES!



The second test match of the #raisethebat series was a delight for cricket followers. England the host was 1 down in the series before the match as the visiting team - Windies won the first match by 4 wickets in a convincing fashion. The Captaincy Debut of England’s Miracle Man was purely a flop show but he did not disappoint as a player in the second match.

Joe Root came back from the marital break. His cricketing brains were a big positive for the England team but Jofra Archer’s breaching by visiting his family was a concern. Apart from this, the host dropped Jimmy Anderson, Mark Wood, and Joe Denly. Stuart Broad, Sam Curran, and Chris Woakes were included in the playing eleven. These modifications made England more vigorous.

Jason Holder won the toss and sent the hosts to bat and he made the first and the biggest mistake of the match. He must have thought his team would depict the first test match. But no, this time English batting was more experienced. Despite two quick wickets by Roston Chase, England had a steady start run. After the dismal of Root, the main story of Day 1 started for the hosts. Stokes with Dom Sibley built a century partnership and England closed the day on 207/3. 



The following day saw two extraordinary innings. First, from Sibley, the opener hit his second test century which had only five fours. Apart from him, Stokes played an exceptional knock of 176 runs. The English team finished their innings on 469 after playing 162 overs. In spite of the huge first innings score, the team was criticized. They were condemned for playing slow and then declaring 15-20 late. The touring opener had to bat and survive for 14 overs. John Campbell was dismissed by Sam Curran on Day 2 and Windies finished the day on 32/1.

Day 3 was washed out without any ball being bowled. The fourth day was again a disaster for the batting team. No batter batted a big knock. Three Windies batsman scored half-centuries but none cannot make any mark. Broad was the man with the ball for the English team as he took 3 wickets in 14 balls and ended the Windies innings on 289 runs. The visitors imposed the follow on but gave the hosts a lead of 180 runs which the latter pushed to 212 runs by the end of the day. 



Another incident happened on the fourth day. Sibley who the player who scored the first century after the COVID19 outbreak also became the first player to use saliva on the ball in the restrictions. The ball was later sanitized by the umpires and Sibley was given a warning.

Everyone was thinking that the match is going towards a draw. England team needed a miracle and their Miracle Man made that happen. The centurion from the earlier inning had an exhibition in the first session. He batted in the T20 mode and scored a quick 78 runs which had 4 fours and 3 sixes. Now, Windies had a target of 312 runs to chase only in 85 overs time, and out of nowhere England had an opportunity to win the match. The touring team rattled for the second time in the test match. This time for lesser runs.

England won the match by 113 runs with 15 overs still left in the day. This all happened because of one person, due to England’s Miracle Man – BEN STOKES.




The Man of the Match for England scored 254 runs with the bat, took 3 crucial wickets, a catch on his own bowling. He also fielded the ball on the boundary line over his bowling. 

The Villain from England’s last loss was now their Hero again. 


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