On August 25, 2019, Ben Stokes went on to play one of the greatest Test knocks of all time during the Ashes series as England registered an iconic victory from the jaws of defeat. The left-hander scored
an unbeaten 135*(219) runs and put up a partnership of 76 runs along with Jack Leach as England successfully defeated Australia by just one wicket in the third Test at Headingley, Leeds.
Talking about the match, batting first, Australia were bowled out for 179 runs in the first innings. David Warner and Marnus Labuschagne contributed with the scores of 61(94) and 74(129) respectively. For England, Jofra Archer registered figures of 6/45. In reply, England were bowled out for just 67 runs trailing by 112 runs in the first innings. For Australia, Josh Hazlewood took five wickets while Pat Cummins and James Pattinson scalped three and two wickets respectively.
Ben Stokes played one of the greatest Test knocks chasing 359 runs
In the second innings, Australia posted 246 runs giving England a target of 359 runs to win. Chasing the target, England lost both their openers at the score 15 runs. After that captain Joe Root (77 off 205) and Joe Denty (50 off 155) added 126 runs for the third wicket. After that, Ben Stokes took charge of the innings and took the innings further while wickets kept falling from the other end. The hosts were reduced to 286/9 with 73 runs still needed.
After that, Stokes and Jack Leach didn’t let any wicket fall for the rest of the innings. While Stokes was taking England closer to the target, Leach held the other end and ended up scoring just one run in 17 deliveries. At last, Stokes smashed a famous boundary against Pat Cummins as England registered a historic win by just one wicket. Stokes remained unbeaten on 135* runs off 219 balls, hitting 11 fours and eight sixes.
