Emotions Run High As Stokes Delivers

Odi Series Round-Up

- Chris Stocks

EVEN if he had not managed to almost single-handedly drag England back into this one-day series, there is no doubt these first two matches against New Zealand would have been dominated by the presence of the returning Ben Stokes.

The 26-year-old did his best to alter the course of the first ODI in Hamilton last Sunday, when his two wickets deep into the Black Caps’ pursuit of 285 should have been enough to win the match for his team. Instead, Mitchell Santner’s unbeaten 45, including 10 off the final over from Chris Woakes, inflicted only England’s fourth defeat in this format in a year.

Stokes bowled with accuracy and good pace in Hamilton, finishing with figures of 2-43. His batting, though, was somewhat rusty during a scratchy innings of 12 from 22 balls.

In Mount Maunganui, with England needing a much improved performance against a New Zealand team aiming for a tenth successive ODI win, Stokes stepped up with a brilliant all round display that inspired Eoin Morgan’s men to what was ultimately an easy six-wicket victory that levelled this series up at 1-1 with three to play.

If fielding was an area where England let themselves down in Hamilton, it was where the second match was really won. Jason Roy took two stunning catches and David Willey one as New Zealand slipped to 82-5 and then 147-8.