England Test captain and one of the world's greatest all-rounders Ben Stokes showed why the Jos Buttler-led side needed him the most for the World Cup as he smashed his fourth ODI century, his first since 2017 in his comeback series on return from retirement. Stokes who scored a half-century in the series opener against New Zealand, came in a pressure situation in the third ODI at the Oval on Wednesday, September 13 when England lost 2/13 early.
Along with Dawid Malan, Stokes first did the repair job while going run-a-ball before going ballistic as he completed his fourth century off just 76 balls. Stokes played like how Stokes does and after the century he went really big smashing sixes and fours for fun. An LBW call came umpire's call on DRS, a couple of mistimed shots falling in no man's land. It really seemed like there was a historic double hundred for the taking, however, Stokes fell short by just 18 runs.
However, with his 182-run knock off just 124 balls including 15 fours and 9 sixes, Stokes made sure that he has now the highest score by an England player in ODIs. Stokes broke Jason Roy's record, whose 180 against Australia in 2018 was the previous best. Stokes' knock was also the second highest score by a No. 4 batter in ODIs as he fell short of Sir Vivian Richards' record by just eight runs.
Highest individual score for England in ODIs
182 - Ben Stokes vs New Zealand (The Oval, 2023)
180 - Jason Roy vs Australia (Melbourne, 2018)
171 - Alex Hales vs Pakistan (Nottingham, 2016)
167* - Robin Smith vs Australia (Edgbaston, 1993)
162* - Jos Buttler vs Netherlands (Amstelveen, 2022)
162 - Jason Roy vs Sri Lanka (The Oval, 2016)
Highest individual score in ODIs at No. 4
189* - Vivian Richards vs England (Manchester, 1984)
182 - Ben Stokes vs New Zealand (The Oval, 2023)
181* - Ross Taylor vs England (Dunedin, 2018)
181 - Vivian Richards vs Sri Lanka (Karachi, 1987)
176 - AB de Villiers vs Bangladesh (Paarl, 2017)
Stokes' marathon knock was ably supported by Dawid Malan's 96 and skipper Jos Buttler's quickfire cameo of 24-ball 38 as England posted a massive score of 368 runs on the board. The series is currently 1-1 and despite the mini-collapse in the end, England are in the driver's seat of this game.
