Ben Stokes records his maiden World Cup century: Key stats
Senior batter Ben Stokes became England's second centurion in the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup with a quickfire knock against the Netherlands. Stokes, who smashed 64 against Australia in the last encounter, followed it up with a rescuing knock in Pune. The left-handed batter took England past 300 after they were reduced to 192/6. Stokes went on to smash his maiden World Cup ton.
A rescuing ton from Stokes
Stokes joined opener Malan in the middle after England lost Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root for 133. However, Stokes lost Malan with an untimely run-out two overs later. Harry Brook, skipper Jos Buttler, and Moeen Ali also departed before the 200-run mark (192/6). Stokes and Chris Woakes paired up to take England forward. The former smashed an 84-ball 108 (6 fours and 6 sixes).
Maiden century in ODI WCs
Stokes, who leads England's Test side, now has five centuries in ODI cricket. The one against the Dutch was his maiden ton in ODI World Cups. Besides his sole century, Stokes also owns six half-centuries in the tournament. He now has over 650 World Cup runs from just 16 matches at an average of more than 55.
Joint second-most sixes for England in a WC innings
Stokes hammered 6 sixes, now the joint second-most for England in a World Cup innings. Bairstow also smashed as many maximums against India in 2019 in Birmingham. Former captain Eoin Morgan tops this tally (17 vs Afghanistan, 2019, Manchester).
England's highest partnership for seventh wicket or below in WCs
The 129-run partnership between Stokes and Woakes helped England evade a batting collapse against the Dutch. This is now England's highest partnership for the seventh wicket or below in ODI World Cups. The highest such stand is 202* between Glenn Maxwell and Pat Cummins which came in Australia's historic win against Afghanistan in the last match in Mumbai.
Stokes races past 3,350 ODI runs
Stokes, who scored a career-best 182 against New Zealand earlier this year, has now raced to 3,379 runs in 113 ODIs at 40.71. The tally includes five tons and 23 fifties. He boasts a strike rate of over 95.37. Notably, Stokes smashed a century in his maiden ODI innings against the Netherlands. As per ESPNcricinfo, he owns 762 runs in Asia at 47.62.
Stokes came out of ODI retirement
Earlier this year, Stokes came out of ODI retirement to feature in the ongoing World Cup. However, he sustained a hip injury in the gym before the opener. Although the southpaw initially thought his WC campaign was over, he recovered in time.
