ENG vs NZ 2023: Really pleased – Ben Stokes after scoring highest individual score for England in ODIs

England’s talisman Ben Stokes just can’t stop breaking records. Stokes, who recently took a U-turn on his ODI retirement, smashed a blistering knock of 182 runs off just 124 balls against New Zealand at the Kennington Oval, London on Wednesday.

Stokes broke Jason Roy’s record of 180 runs in ODI cricket, which was the previous best for England in the 50-overs version. In fact, England lost two early wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root and found themselves in a spot of bother at 13-2 after New Zealand won the toss and decided to bowl first.

However, Stokes and Dawid Malan added a huge partnership of 199 runs for the third wicket. Stokes smashed 15 fours and nine sixes in his blistering knock as he batted at the top of his game whereas Malan scored 96.

England were able to post a huge score of 368 runs whereas New Zealand was skittled out for a paltry score of 187 runs to suffer a huge loss. With this win, England have taken a 2-1 lead in the four-match ODI series.

Stokes said after he was awarded Player of the Match, “Really pleased. Apologise to Jason (Jason Roy – for breaking his record of highest individual score for England). We spoke about putting New Zealand under pressure and get to a good start and even after losing those early wickets, we wanted to be positive.”

Stokes added it was imperative to capitalize once they got settled at the crease and they were able to make the most of it.

He added, “Once we got going, we didn’t want them (bowlers) to settle. As experienced players, we need to guide the younger players. He (Malan) is a very consistent player, he is a very quality player, rotates the strike very well as well and missed out on the milestone after getting a strangle down leg. I’m feeling much better, Tests matches are a bit longer but ODIs surely are not that demanding.”

Stokes is a big match player and he is going to hold the key for the Jos Buttler-led team in the upcoming ODI World Cup. The final ODI of the series will be played at the Lord’s, London on Friday.