England captain Ben Stokes has become only the third all-rounder in Test cricket history to achieve the rare double of 7,000 runs and 200 wickets. He joined the elite company of legends Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis by reaching the milestone during the fourth Test against India at Old Trafford in Manchester. He reached the milestone soon after completing his century. He needed only 109 runs and did that with a six off Washington Sundar in the 149th over of the match.
Notably, England’s top four set the tone for the middle order batters to capitalise. Openers Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett set up a partnership of 166 runs as Indian bowlers struggled heavily in the middle. Crawley departed after scoring 84 runs, while Duckett made 94 before debutant Anshul Kamboj got the better of him. After their dismissals, Ollie Pope and Joe Root took over the business and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Pope departed after scoring 71 runs, while Root made 150. After Root’s dismissal, England were expected to declare sometime soon but the hosts had other plans. Captain Stokes then took over and played some brilliant cricket against India’s lacklustre bowling attack. Ace pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj suffered injuries on the second and third sessions of Day 3, respectively and that helped England pile on runs.
Other record Stokes broke
Stokes also became the first England captain to score a century and pick up a five-wicket haul in a Test match. Meanwhile, it was also for the first time in 11 years that India conceded only 600 runs in an innings of a Test match. The team will be disappointed with the effort they have put in and will be hoping to bat better. It looks impossible for India to draw a favourable result from the game and hence, they can only compete for a stalemate.
