Search icon

Sport

30th May 2019

WATCH: This is the Ben Stokes catch people are calling ‘the best they’ve ever seen’

Kyle Picknell

Oh my word Ben Stokes, stop that

We here at JOE are very, very fond of cricket, hence our brand new show presented by none other than former England bowler Graeme Swann, which you can watch here.

Or, if podcasts are more your thing, subscribe to here.

As a result, there’s nothing we like more than a six spanked out of the stadium or an acrobatic bit of fielding to keep a ball from flying over the boundary.

On the opening day of the Cricket World Cup no less, we got exactly that in the form of this miracle take from England all-rounder Ben Stokes against South Africa.

Stokes took the absolute worldie of a catch during the Three Lions’ first game of the tournament at the Oval today, picking off batsman Andile Phehlukwayo with a stunning display of athleticism and hand-eye coordination.

The South African hit England’s leg spin bowler Adil Rashid with a slog sweep that looked destined to soar beyond the rope only for Stokes to rise up and just pluck it out of the air like he was catching a gently thrown frisbee.

Honestly, though, words don’t do it justice. Just watch:

https://twitter.com/SkyCricket/status/1134130850839351298

As you’d expect, those who saw it play out live immediately started calling it the best catch they had ever seen, including Swanny himself:

The catch pretty much finished off any hope of a South African fightback and England won the game comfortably by 103 runs, with Stokes also taking the final wicket.

He also starred with the bat, scoring 89 from 79 balls, whilst Morgan, Roy and Root all hit half-centuries.

It was, however, Jofra Archer who proved most decisive, producing figures of 7-1-27-3 with the ball in hand.

As it happens, we’ve also just sat down for a longread interview with him, too, which you can read here.

Told you we loved cricket. I wasn’t lying. I just wouldn’t do that to you.

 

Keep up to date throughout the Cricket World Cup with Swanny’s Cricket Show, a brand new YouTube show and podcast presented by JOE