The tensions were high in the 2019 World Cup final between England and New Zealand. The match had gone down to the wire and it was not easy to control the nerves for the players as well as aficionados. England all-rounder Ben Stokes had played a key role in getting his team par with New Zealand score of 241 runs after he scored a fine knock of 84 runs off 98 balls.
Stokes had batted for two hours and 27 minutes in the high pressure knock and added a fine alliance of 110 runs with Jos Buttler to help England recover. At one stage England were 86-4 when Buttler and Stokes joined forces. Buttler was then dismissed when the team score was 196 and the hosts still needed 46 runs to win their maiden World Cup.
With Buttler getting dismissed at a crucial time of the match, Stokes had to make sure that he got his team over the line while batting with the lower order. In the end, 15 runs were ended off the final over and England could only score 14 to take the match into the Super Over.
Subsequently, when England was building their strategy for the Super Over, Ben Stokes wanted two minutes of solace. Stokes went to the back of the England dressing room and lit a cigarette to calm his nerves down.
“Ben Stokes is covered in dirt and sweat after England’s innings. He has batted for two hours and 27 minutes of unbelievable tension. What does Stokes do? He goes to the back of the England dressing room, past the attendant’s little office and into the showers. There he lights up a cigarette and has few minutes on his own,” wrote Nick Hoult and Steve James in their new book ‘‘Morgan’s Men: The Inside Story of England’s Rise from Cricket World Cup Humiliation to Glory’.
After completing his cigarette, Ben Stokes went out to bat with Jos Butter in the Super Over. England scored 15 runs and eight of them were scored by Stokes.
Subsequently, New Zealand also followed suit as they managed 15 runs in the Super Over. Ergo, England were declared winners on boundary count rule as they had scored 26 boundaries as compared to New Zealand’s 17. Ben Stokes was awarded the Man of the match for his knock.
