Published: May 13, 2017, 05:56 PM (IST)
Edited: May 13, 2017, 05:56 PM (IST)
“Pay him more. Give him more money. What a freak! Run outs, wickets, have a look at him. He does it easy,” screamed Michael Clarke from the commentary box, after witnessing Ben Stokes‘s catch at the deep midwicket during the 52nd match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017 between Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). It was the second last ball of DD’s innings when No. 9 batsman Mohammed Shami slammed a good length ball from Jaydev Unadkat, aiming for a six. FULL CRICKET SCORECARD, DD vs RPS, Match 52
Stokes at boundary, just few inches inside the ropes, leapt to complete a very well judged catch before realising he was agonisingly close to the ropes and the momentum would make him cross the ropes. Adjusting himself brilliantly, he not only averted the six but also converted the effort into a dismissal.
Stokes’ acrobatics aided Unadkat in increasing his wicket tally. However, Stokes’s side RPS lost the contest while chasing a stiff total 169 despite his 33 from 25 balls, which including 3 fours and 2 sixes. He also picked two wickets in DD’s innings, that of Karun Nair and Pat Cummins and executed the run out of Sanju Samson. Stokes was bought in the IPL auction 2017 for a whopping INR 14.5 crores. He became the highest earning overseas player in the tournament history. He is certainly justifying the price tag.
