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On September 13, Wednesday, Ben Stokes scored a magnificent 182 against New Zealand at The Oval in the third ODI of the four-match series, to help England register a commanding win of 181 runs to lead the series 2-1. In the post-match presentation, the 31-year-old went on to apologise to Jason Roy, because he had surpassed his highest individual score for an England batter in ODIs.
In 2018, Jason Roy had scored 180 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), playing a key role in England chasing down the 305 runs. Now, while breaking his record with 182 off just 124 balls, Ben Stokes smashed 15 fours and nine maximums to light up the crowd in the heart of London on a Wednesday afternoon.
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He compiled a stand of 199 runs with Dawid Malan, who was used as a replacement for Jason Roy at the top of the order by England. For New Zealand, Trent Boult picked up a five-wicket haul, and Ben Lister chipped in with three wickets, but still, they ended up conceding 368 runs, before bowling out the English lineup.
During the post-match presentation, Ben Stokes was happy with his performance, before he quickly apologised to Jason Roy for breaking the record of the highest individual score for an England batter in ODIs. He was quoted as saying by ANI, “Really pleased. Apologise to Jason.”
“We spoke about putting New Zealand under pressure and getting to a good start and even after losing those early wickets, we wanted to be positive. Once we got going, we did not want them (bowlers) to settle. As experienced players, we need to guide the younger players,” he added.
The successful defence of the 368 run total for England was built on the clinical opening spells from Chris Woakes and Reece Topley, who shared five of the New Zealand wickets amongst themselves. Liam Livingstone put the finishing touches on the innings, picking up three wickets late in the innings.
