Picture Credit: Twitter
While England have been completely outplayed in the Ashes series so far and have already lost the five-match series 3-0 heading into the fourth game, even the SCG Test seems to be quickly running away from them on Day 3. After opting to bat first, the hosts made a solid 416/8 before declaring their innings in a rain affected-match and removed the England top order in no time, leaving them 4 down at 36 with both in-form batters Joe Root and Dawid Malan back in the pavilion.
It was turning out to be a nightmarish inning when even Ben Stokes was given out LBW in the first ball of the 31st over with just 61 runs on the board. English supporters must have been completely shattered when umpire Paul Reiffel raised his finger. However, almost on prompt, Stokes reviewed the decision and the visuals that followed blew everyone's minds.
Reviews showed that Stokes left the ball and perhaps thought that it had missed everything on its way to the keeper and hence reviewed the decision. However, the ball had actually smashed the off stump but the bails remained firm in its place, not even moving by a whisker. Reiffel had no choice but to reverse his decision which he had got wrong anyways since the ball hadn't hit Stokes' leg but the stump.
The video of this incident was shared by Cricket Australia on their social media page with just one word which perhaps resonated with their emotions at that moment: "UNBELIEVABLE #Ashes," it read.
Here is the video:
UNBELIEVABLE #Ashes pic.twitter.com/yBhF8xspg1
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 7, 2022
However, all is well that ends well they say and since then Stokes along with Jonny Bairstow has helped the Three Lions put up bit of a fight. The two of them have continued England's recovery and have added an unbeaten 79 runs till the filing time of this news report. They only have one recognised batter in Jos Buttler to come after them and the batting talent of the lower order including Mark Wood, Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and James Anderson to trust.
These two will surely want to add as many runs as possible and help England make a comeback in the match, in a battle for pride with points at stake even in the World Test Championship table.