In the final over of a dramatic second day in SE11 came a moment of inspiration from Ben Stokes; a wonderfully athletic boundary catch straight from the Twenty20 playbook that shut down Australia and turned this series finale into a straight shootout.
Stokes had spoken before this fifth Test about the skills of the shortest format only improving the appeal of its longer, more storied older sibling. While chiefly talking about batting, this was another example of the crossover – one of those juggling boundary-rope takes that have become de rigueur in white-ball cricket.
