Ashes highlights: Watch Ben Stokes produce innings for the ages in epic England win over Australia

AFP/Getty Images
Standard Sport26 August 2019

Ben Stokes produced his second 'once-in-a-lifetime' performance of the summer as his magnificent century powered England to an unprecedented, unthinkable one-wicket victory at Headingley to keep the Ashes alive.

Stokes hit 135 not out, channelled the spirit of Sir Ian Botham in 1981 and even eclipsed his match-winning turn in the World Cup final, to lead England to their record chase of 359.

Anything less and Australia would have retained the urn at 2-0 with two to play but what transpired was simply one of the most incredible roars of defiance ever seen on a cricket field, as he led last man Jack Leach in an unbroken stand of 76 for the final wicket.

Stokes hit eight sixes and 11 fours as he instantly laid claim to one of the greatest innings of all time, while Leach's solitary run was the one that levelled the scores.

Relive the incredible action on day four at Headingley in the video.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in