Spectacular, unbelievable, priceless, unreal, superlative - all these words just don’t do justice to what Ben Stokes did on Thursday, 30 May.
The all-rounder inspired England to a 104 run win against South Africa in the opening game of ICC World Cup 2019.
But it wasn’t his superb knock of 89 runs or his two wickets that fans enjoyed the most in Thursday’s match. It was rather the catch that he took to dismiss Andile Phehlukwayo in the 35th over that left everyone shell shocked.
“I was actually in the wrong position. I made a relatively straightforward catch into a hard one. It would have been a regulation catch if I was in the right place. It is one of those that sticks or doesn’t. We do train hard.”Ben Stokes
When asked about what he felt after taking the screamer, the 27-year old said, "The crowd's reaction behind me was pretty awesome. I just tried to take that in as much as I could. I bowled the next over and Morgs had to come to me and ask if everything was all right, if my heart rate had gone down.”
He further added, "Things like that catch do get you fizzed up. I didn't really know quite how to react to be honest, I just tried to take it in. The crowd today were phenomenal. It's the best thing about having a home World Cup."
Twitter was left abuzz after the catch and rightly so. Here are some of the best reactions about Stokes’ catch.
Former England cricketer, Graeme Swann and Stuart Broad could not hide their emotions.
Harsha Bhogle was one of the many who termed it as the catch of the tournament, already.
Former South Africa legend and one of the all time fielding greats, Jonty Rhodes also praised Stokes for his brilliantly choreographed catch.
England will next face Pakistan on Monday, 3 June at Trent Bridge, Nottingham.
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