[ad_1]
England Captain ben stokes He may not be playing in the Test series against Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury, but he is still a part of the England dressing room. This led to a hilarious moment at Old Trafford on Friday, where the match camera captured a man in the crowd who looked like a carbon copy of Stokes. With Stokes present at the ground, fans could also catch him laughing at the lookalike on the big screen. Just like Stokes, the fan had ginger hair and a beard. When he was shown on the screen, the England captain raised his thumb in approval. However, moments later the fan opened his jacket and revealed ‘Stokes 55’ written on the back of his jersey.
WATCH: Ben Stokes’ lookalike!
Stokesy pic.twitter.com/qDZEqN4hbh
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 23, 2024
Stokes couldn’t help but smile as the crowd also celebrated the coincidence.
Joe Root’s unbeaten 62-run knock helped England win the first Test against Sri Lanka by five wickets at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Chasing a target of 205 to win, England were reeling at 56/2 at one stage when star batsman Root came to the field shortly before tea on the fourth day.
But with his Yorkshire team-mate Harry Brook (32) he put on 49 in 20 overs – a stark departure from England’s ‘buzzball’ policy of recent years – although the outfield was still slow, making boundaries difficult.
However, the match was back in the balance when Brook gave a return catch to left-arm spinner Prabhat Jayasuriya, leaving England at 119/4 and still needing 86 to win.
But Jamie Smith, who scored his maiden Test century in the first innings, provided a good ally to Root, scoring 39 and sharing a 64-run partnership as England posted 205-5 to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
It was another sign of the 24-year-old wicketkeeper’s commendable passion for big matches, with Smith’s display with the bat in Manchester minimising the impact of regular captain Ben Stokes’ absence with a hamstring injury before the series ended.
Sri Lanka dragged the match into a fourth day, a testament to their resilience, having fallen 6-3 behind on the first day.
They continued the fightback on the field on Saturday, with Smith breaking Jayasuriya’s rhythm by hitting him for fours off successive deliveries before hitting him for a six.
When he was bowled by Asitha Fernando, England were at 183/5 and heading towards victory.
(With AFP inputs)
Topics mentioned in this article
[ad_2]
Source link