England will head into Sunday with a golden chance to level the Ashes after a positive Saturday at the Oval.
On a day which will be remembered most for Stuart Broad announcing his imminent retirement from cricket, there was an enthralling battle on the pitch, too.
There was, however, plenty happening off the pitch with bucket hat fever sweeping the Ashes and a special dedication to a pre-game kit swap.
Instead, for only the second time in his Test career, Ben Stokes walked out at No.3. It was a notion that he had rubbished before the fourth Test, declaring “My best place for this team is at number six”. From here, Stokes authored a coruscating 155 in defeat at Lord’s; at Headingley, his brutal 80 lifted England from the debris of 142 for seven and ultimately transformed the entire feel of the series.
These performances all made Stokes’ emergence at three at the Oval a little curious. Yet the power that opponents always fear from Stokes should not obscure his adaptability. Stokes has won two World Cup finals by scrapping on a difficult wicket and then accelerating. His outstanding Test innings — Headingley in 2019, and those two Ashes innings this summer — have both been marked by adhesiveness before the audacity. For all his belligerence, Stokes has a robust defence: against pace, he is only dismissed every 95 balls that he defends, comfortably the best record of any current England batsman.
During his second innings, Stokes showcased his power-hitting prowess, scoring 42 runs off 67 balls, including three fours and a remarkable six. With this single six, he achieved the record for the highest number of sixes by a batter in a single Ashes series against Australia. In total, Stokes blazed an incredible 15 sixes in the series, surpassing the previous record of 14 held by Kevin Pietersen from the 2005 Ashes series. Stokes had also smashed 13 sixes in the 2019 edition of the series.
Stokes hit one six in the innings. It was a rather fortuitous one with Mitchell Starc palming the ball over the boundary after being unable to hold on to a catch off the third ball of the 27th over after Stokes skied an attempted pull shot off Josh Hazlewood. It was, however, enough for him to surpass an 18-year-old record held by former captain Kevin Pietersen.
Another English legend who is a part of the elite list is former captain Ian Botham. Botham was one of the influential players of his time and aggregated over 5000 runs and claimed 383 wickets in Tests.
The other player who is a part of the list happens to be South Africa's legendary allrounder, Jacques Kallis. Kallis' ended his Test career with extraordinary numbers. He accumulated over 13000 runs and picked up 292 wickets while playing for the Proteas.
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