London [UK], July 2 : England skipper Ben Stokes produced a sensationally delightful illustration of 'Bazball' cricket, as he lifted England to within a touching distance of Australia's target of 371 on a pulsating Day 5 at Lords on sun-bathed Sunday.
The England captain delighted the packed Sunday crowd with a breathtaking knock of 155 off 214 balls, which had echoes of his unbeaten 135 at Headingley in the 2019 Ashes series that took England to a miraculous win.
While Stoke's counter-attacking knock in the face of a barrage of bouncers from the Australian quicks failed to take the hosts past the finish line, he was given a standing ovation by the full house at the 'Home of Cricket' after falling to Josh Hazlewood.
Just like in 2019, England found themselves in a similar position with Jonny Bairstow and Stokes on the crease trying to steer their team towards a victory. When Bairstow lost his wicket, Stokes took the onus of taking England past the finish line on himself and produced, arguably, one of the best knocks in the history of Test cricket.
Jack Leach, too, held off England's sinking ship by playing the anchor's role.
Even with the last wicket standing, Stokes and Leach were in no mood to bargain for a draw or surrender to defeat. This time, however, England's change in approach lead to a change in Stokes's approach as he went on to ride with his luck hoping to write the script of another remarkable victory.
On both occasions, it was Bairstow's wicket that prompted a change in Stokes's style of play. While he portrayed his style of play, Stuart Broad the other end played Leach's role to add further pressure on the Australian bowlers. He suffered blows, faced bouncers, and felt it on his face but still, but persisted with his fighting spirit just like Leach did in 2019.
Australia's inability to break their sheer will and determination raised visions of 2019.
Stokes continued to smash them for boundaries for fun as the plan to pepper the Englishmen with bouncers and short-pitched deliveries seemed to backfire on the visitors.
Stokes did an admirable job of playing with the ego of the Australian bowlers as the shorter they bowled, the longer they travelled beyond the fence.
In the face of a vicious assault from Stokes, the Australian bowlers seemed to lack composure and a plan of attack. The Lunch came at the perfect time as they got some space to regain their composure.
But a similar story started to unfold as Australia remained clueless and visions of Stokes's animated celebration at Headingley seemed on course for a repeat at Lords.
Pat Cummins brought himself into the attack as the battle between the two captains seemed headed to a pulsating climax.
Stokes, however, aced the battle of skippers with his smart approach to turn the strike off Cummins and take on the others.
He picked up boundaries on the leg side region, picked up singles on the final two balls and stayed away from the deliveries which landed near the fifth stump area.
But Hazlewood's ploy to deliver a slower one finally brought an end to an inning for the ages. The change of pace did the trick as Stokes mistimed his shot and the ball landed into the gloves of Alex Carey.
The defeat after that point was inevitable, as the Australian bowlers mopped up the tail to go 2-0 up in Ashes 2023.
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