Stokes joins elite all-rounders club with century at Old Trafford

Manchester, Jul 26: Ben Stokes produced an all-round performance for the ages at Old Trafford, Manchester, becoming only the third all-rounder in Test history—after Sir Garfield Sobers and Jacques Kallis—to achieve the double of 7,000 runs and 200 wickets.

The England captain reached the milestone in signature fashion, launching a splendid six early on Day 4 before crafting a gritty 141 that ended his two-year wait for a Test century, his last coming during the Ashes in July 2023.

Battling cramps on day 3, the 34-year-old briefly left the field but returned after Jamie Smith’s dismissal to finish with a flourish, scoring his last 41 runs off just 34 balls with three towering sixes. As he walked off, the crowd rose to give him a standing ovation.

Stokes’ knock, along with Joe Root’s majestic 150 and fifties from openers Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley, powered England to a monumental 669 all out—their fifth-highest total in Tests and the second-highest against India after their 710/7 declared in Birmingham in 2011.

This was also England’s highest innings total ever recorded at Old Trafford, surpassing the previous record of 627/9 declared against Australia in 1934.

The innings spanned 157 overs, leaving India’s bowlers exhausted, with Jasprit Bumrah sending down 33 overs—his second-most in a single innings. Ravindra Jadeja was the pick of the bowlers with 4/143, while Mohammed Siraj’s sharp catch to dismiss Brydon Carse for 47 finally ended the onslaught.

Day 3 was rich with milestones for England. Joe Root climbed to second on the all-time Test run-scorers list, surpassing Rahul Dravid (13,288), Jacques Kallis (13,289), and Ricky Ponting (13,378). With 13,409 runs, he now trails only Sachin Tendulkar’s monumental record of 15,921 runs.