England's all-rounder Ben Stokes celebrated his Test captaincy debut in style, scoring a century in just 64 balls during the County Championship Division 2 match against Worcestershire for Durham. Stokes ravaged the bowling of left-arm spinner Josh Baker, hammering 34 runs in one of Baker's overs to reach his century. The final delivery narrowly missed crossing the boundary rope, which prevented Stokes from hitting six sixes in the over.
The extraordinary over occurred in the 117th of the innings when Stokes was on 70 runs from 59 balls and he smashed five consecutive sixes. The first delivery sailed over long-on, while the next found its way over deep mid-wicket, followed by Stokes treating the next three balls with the same disdain.
Stokes was eventually dismissed for 161 runs off 88 balls, sinking 17 sixes and 8 fours in his explosive knock. His performance propelled Durham to declare their first innings at 580/6. The video of Stokes's whirlwind innings has been spreading like wildfire on social media.
At 31, Stokes was named captain of England's Test team last month. He takes over from the seasoned batsman Joe Root, who stepped down following a series of underwhelming performances. Stokes, who made his Test debut in 2013, will helm the team as fulltime captain during a three-match Test series against New Zealand in June. He is set to lead in a total of seven Test matches during the home season, which includes a game against India.
Made Test debut in 2013
Stokes, a left-handed batsman and right-arm bowler, has to date played 79 matches, scoring 5061 runs and taking 174 wickets. He was appointed as vice-captain of the Test team in 2017 and has captained the team in Root's absence.
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