Ben Stokes' key moments from England's first Test victory against India

Denzil Pinto 23:25 04/08/2018
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  • Ben Stokes was sensational with the ball in the first Test

    As far as performances are concerned, Ben Stokes’ display on Saturday with the ball has to be right up there among his best.

    It brought back memories of another all-rounder at his prime – Andrew Flintoff during the 2005 Ashes at Edgbaston.

    The Indian batsmen including in-form Virat Kohli simply had no answer to his swinging attack as he showed once again why he is one of the prized all-rounders in all formats by taking three wickets to wrap up the 31-run victory on Saturday.

    Here, we look at his key moments from the first Test at Edgbaston.

    ENGLAND’S FIRST INNINGS

    The hosts looked in fine touch until Joe Root’s run-out that sparked a batting collapse. At a time when England needed someone to stand up, a lapse of concentration and big a schoolboy error saw Stokes bat the ball straight back into Ravichandran Ashwin’s hands. His face once he was out told the whole story of that dismissal.

    INDIA’S FIRST INNINGS

    The 27-year-old had to bide his time to get his first wicket of the match. Not that he was under any pressure to do so considering 20-year-old left-arm seamer Sam Curran had already put the hosts in a dominant position, having dismissed India’s top-three batsman.

    But the signs were already there that wickets were always coming. He bowled a sensational in-swinger that left Ajinkya Rahane utterly deceived, who should have been sent to the pavilion had Joe Root reviewed.

    That was just the start of things to come as Stokes started to create havoc for Rahane. The Indian was clearly uncomfortable facing the left-armer but although he managed to hit Stokes for a four, the all-rounder had the final say when his shorter delivery went straight to Keaton Jennings in the slips.

    While Dinesh Karthik became his 100th Test victim when he rattled the stumps, in all honesty, it should have been a lot more. Alastair Cook dropped Hardik Pandya at slips while Kohli, who also survived a similar spell, was fortunate to survive after Dawid Malan failed to hang on to a simple catch.

    INDIA’S SECOND INNINGS

    Prior to Saturday, Stokes had already dismissed KL Rahul but he saved his best until last in a sensational spell at Edgbaston. The equation was simple for England – claim five wickets and they win the first Test.

    The only issue was that Kohli was still at the crease and given the way he had been playing, England had their work cut out. James Anderson and Stuart Broad both struggled in their attempts to dismiss him but Stokes showed how to do it by trapping Kohli lbw with a full ball.

    Mohammed Shami didn’t last long in his three deliveries to become Stokes’ second victim of the day. And with England inching closer to victory, it was ironic that Stokes finished things off when he produced the goods again to see off Pandya for India’s final wicket.

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