Credit: Twitter
England’s captain Ben Stokes played a stormy innings of 155 at Lord’s in the second Test of the Ashes. Coming in to bat at No.6, England still needed 325 more runs to win. Stokes brought up his 13th Test hundred in 145 deliveries. Although he couldn’t take his team home, his valiant effort was praised by everyone, including India’s very own ex-skipper Virat Kohli.
Stokes came on the crease on day 4 at Lord’s when batting was tough and England had already lost four quick wickets with just 45 runs on the board. England were chasing a mammoth total of 371 set by the Aussies. He steadied the drowning ship by scoring a scintillating 155 which consisted of 9 fours and 9 sixes. Had he batted all the way, England were on their way to equaling the scoreline 1-1.
Virat Kohli took to Twitter to appreciate Ben Stoke’s courageous effort after the match on Sunday evening, where he wrote, "I wasn’t joking about calling Ben Stokes the most competitive bloke I’ve played against. Innings of the highest quality." He also appreciated the Australian team’s performance and wrote, "Australia is too good at the moment 👍"
The tweet is a reference to an earlier statement by Virat Kohli when Ben Stokes announced his retirement from ODI cricket in July last year. Stokes had put up a heartfelt post on Instagram to announce his retirement from ODIs. Virat Kohli commented on that post and said, "You’re the most competitive bloke I’ve ever played against. Respect."
After going two down in the series, England will now look to come back at Headingley in the third Test which begins from July 6. As for Virat Kohli, he will be back in action in the Caribbean tour which consists of all three formats, and will kick off from July 12 with the Test series in Antigua.
