New England skipper Stokes smashes 5 sixes in an over | Watch

Ben Stokes first competitive match after being appointed as England’s Test captain saw the star all-rounder smash five sixes in a row for Durham in the LV= Insurance County Championship. He scored a 64-ball century – fastest for the club in First Class cricket. 

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Stokes took on Worcestershire’s left-arm spinner Josh Baker in the 117th over of the first innings. After clobbering five maximums, the English Test skipper hit a boundary, making it 34 runs of the over. 

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Ben Stokes finished the innings with 161 runs off 88 balls at a whopping strike rate of 182.95. He hit eight boundaries and 17 maximums. 

During his innings, the 30-year-old surpassed Andrew Symonds and Graham Napier’s County Championship record of most sixes in an innings. The who had hit 15. 

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Coming in at No 6, Stokes managed to clear the ropes 11 times in the final eight overs of the morning session. The tempo of his innings never came down. His half-century came in 47 balls and he scored the rest 50 runs in 17 more. 

Durham declared at 580-6 after 128 overs. 

Ben Stokes’ stellar knock comes days before he will lead England in his first assignment against New Zealand, when Kane Williamson and co visit for a three-match Test series. 

Stokes was appointed as England Test captain after Joe Root stepped down. The Three Lions have won only one from their last 17 Tests. They have lost 11. The team is placed sixth on the ICC Test rankings, their lowest points rating in 27 years. 

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“We can look at that and go there is only one to go, which is up. We have not been good enough. That is not a dig at any individual as I have been part of that. As a team we know we have not been good enough, not played to the standard we know we can. It’s about understanding that and fixing it but we need to understand things won’t happen overnight. I can’t just expect it to click and all of a sudden we are No 1 in a year’s time,” Stokes had said in a press conference.