Cometh the hour, cometh Ben Stokes.
The England all-rounder produced his best knock of the tournament so far to guide his team through the stickiest of run chases and into the T20 World Cup semi-finals. There were just two balls spare when Chris Woakes hit the winning boundary that took England to their target of 142, on a night when fours and sixes were at a strict premium.
Stokes himself, usually such a free hitting ball striker only managed two boundaries in his 42 not out which reflected both the pressure and the difficulty timing the ball on a used pitch. He won’t care though, all that mattered was getting the two points that sends them to Adelaide for a semi-final on Thursday, most likely against India.
