2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Ben Stokes’ Potential Is Through The Roof – Eoin Morgan

Nov 2, 2023 at 3:43 PM

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2017 ICC Champions Trophy: Ben Stokes’ Potential Is Through The Roof – Eoin Morgan

England skipper Eoin Morgan has lavished praise on Ben Stokes after the latter’s stunning century took the Three Lions over the line against bitter rivals Australia in the final Group A game at Edgbaston on Saturday (June 10).

Around a month ago, Ben Stokes had scored a brilliant match-winning century off just 61 balls when Rising Pune Supergiant were reeling at 10 for three in pursuit of 161 against Gujarat Lions.

On Saturday, the batsman walked in to bat in a similar position but the difference was that the pressure was manifold compared to the IPL match. With his team reeling at 35 for three while chasing 277 and with Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood bowling their heart out, Stokes had a mountain to climb.

But never during his 109 balls knock, the Durham star looked nervous, as he played one of the finest ODI innings in recent history. What was striking about his knock was that he never tried to go full out to minimise the pressure and instead mixed caution with aggression to not only bail his team out of trouble but also helped them to beat the world champions by 40 runs (DLS method).

Stokes completed his century off 108 balls and was unbeaten on 102 off 109 balls when the rain stopped the match for the final time. He was ably supported by his skipper Morgan who scored 87 off 81 balls, as the duo shared a match-defining partnership of 159 runs for the fourth wicket.

Speaking at the post-match presser, Morgan lauded Stokes’ all round qualities.

“His potential is through the roof,” said Morgan. “I think he bowled four overs in his first spell and then to go back to him at the end with two of the hardest overs to bowl [overs 48 and 50] sums him up. He took it on his shoulders. He did it at the IPL. And then his batting was exceptional. Very calm at the crease, very relaxed. All those games he’s played really came to the fore today. He was outstanding.

“He’s always looking to influence the game – bat, ball or even in the field. Even in the field today at mid-on, he saved a lot of runs. He went through a period today of about five overs where he was unbelievable. He always wants to be in the game. A lot of guys with potential like that, when things aren’t going your way, back into a corner but that’s not Ben,” he added.

With Australia’s pacers looking in red-hot form, Morgan tried to turn the tide by launching a counterattack and the left-handed batsman succeeded in that. While Stokes looked more than content to adopt a defensive approach, Morgan played the big shots early on, hitting three boundaries and two sixes in the six overs after the rain break to break the shackles.

“It was important to get some sort of a partnership going and how we were going to negate Australia’s bowling,” said Morgan. “They bowled really well up front. They asked a lot of questions and then got the ball moving.”

“We felt that the positive way was the best way,” Morgan said. “And we spoke [during the break] about how we were going to go about it a little bit differently but it managed to work. We did it in our own way.” That it did and it summed up the style and confidence with which this England side is playing. There is no team more fearless with the bat.

England’s prospects of ending their long wait for a global ICC trophy is looking brighter than ever. With Australia already out of the tournament and one of India and South Africa set to exit at the group stage, the Eoin Morgan-led side can write history by winning the Champions Trophy.

However, Morgan is not willing to focus too much on the expectations and is just focusing on the upcoming semifinal.

“A start would be winning the semi-final. I said before that beating a side like Australia in a game where we’ve nothing to gain is a big step forward for us because we beat one of the better sides around the world. If we’re being serious about competing in future tournaments, we need to win games of cricket like this,” Morgan concluded.

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