Stokes draws on ‘dark places’ in Lord’s heroics

Captain Ben Stokes says his bowling performance in England’s final-day win over India’s at Lord’s was the toughest of the “dark places” he has been to during a Test.

Stokes, 34, was named player of the match for his all-round performance in a dramatic 22-run victory, including two wickets on the final day as the tourists were bowled out for 170.

Having taken the wicket of Akash Deep with the last ball of the day on the penultimate evening, Stokes bowled a 9.2-over spell to kickstart the morning and pinned the in-form KL Rahul lbw for 39.

Another 10-over burst in the afternoon, as India dug in, saw him toil relentlessly with an old, soft ball and he was rewarded with the wicket of Jasprit Bumrah.

“The Test match is on the line, it is different,” Stokes told BBC Test Match Special, when asked if he had any worries about his workload during those spells.

“There are moments where I wouldn’t even think about stopping.”

Stokes has only just just returned from hamstring surgery and came through an injury scare in this Test when he appeared to suffer a right groin problem while batting on day one.

He added he had “history of turning up in moments like that” with the ball and was “pretty pumped” throughout.

“I thought I’d taken myself to some pretty dark places before, but bowling to win a Test for your country – if that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what does,” said Stokes.

England’s magnificent win came six years to the day since Eoin Morgan’s white-ball side memorably lifted the World Cup at the same venue, with Jofra Archer bowling the hosts to victory against New Zealand in the super over.

Stokes said he felt Archer – in his first Test match since 2021 – would produce another special performance on day five against India.

“He cracked the game open with those two wickets,” said Stokes of Archer’s dismissals of Rishabh Pant and Washington Sundar in the morning session.

“I just had this gut feeling something was going to happen, with it being Jofra’s first time back.

“It’s been awesome to have him back out there, every time he gets announced you hear the whole ground erupt. When he turns it on, the speeds come up on the screen, and the feeling in the game just changes.”

With two Tests remaining, the on-field tensions during the Lord’s encounter have added a little extra heat to the series, which will motivate both sets of players.

India seamer Mohammed Siraj was fined 15% of his match fee and given one demerit point by the match referee for his celebration after dismissing Ben Duckett on day four, which followed an altercation between Zak Crawley and Shubman Gill the preceding evening.

On the final day, there was a collision between Ravindra Jadeja and Brydon Carse in the middle of the pitch as the batter set off for a run, with Stokes eventually separating the pair.

“It’s a massive series, emotions are going,” added Stokes. “All 22 players are playing for their country and I don’t think anyone in the either dressing room is going to be complaining about what was said.

“A bit of niggle out in the middle gets over-egged from people watching.