A member of the cricketing fraternity in England drew parallels between Men’s Test captain Ben Stokes and Women’s all-rounder Sophie Ecclestone right after the latter grabbed a one-handed stunner during the ongoing Women’s Ashes. In what is remembered as a superhuman effort, it had come as a catching spectacle by Stokes four years ago.
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It all happened during the ongoing first Women’s Ashes ODI in Bristol where Ecclestone took an outstanding catch at mid-off. Australia Women’s were placed comfortably at 69-1 after the 12th over. England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt came in to bowl the 13th over and batter Phoebe Litchfield was on strike.
Sciver bowled a fuller delivery and Litchfield tried to hit it over mid-off. With the elevation missing, all Litchfield did was hit the ball as Ecclestone timed her jump to perfection. It was well above her height but she plucked it out of thin air. It was such an amazing catch that even Ecclestone couldn’t believe it. As a result, earned her comparisons with Stokes.
Sophie Ecclestone Gets Compared To Ben Stokes For Women’s Ashes Stunner
Former England spinner Alexandra Hartley took to social media platform Twitter to share her views on Ecclestone’s catch. She made the comparison using the famous “You cannot do that” line of former England captain Nasser Hussain to describe Stokes’ amazing catch.
For the uninitiated, it was in a ICC World Cup 2019 league match against South Africa when Stokes took a tremendous catch near the boundary ropes off spinner Adil Rashid‘s delivery. South African all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo tried to slog sweep Rashid towards mid-wicket. It was a good hit but Stokes came in between the ball and the boundary.
He made a spectacular dive and took a one-handed stunner to send Phehlekwayo back to the pavilion. Calling the match at the very moment, Hussain used the aforementioned lines to define Stoke’s brilliance. Stokes was also stunned after the same and kicked the ball in the end. It was termed one of the best-ever catches in the history of cricket.
Did Ben Stokes’ Super Human Catch Win England The Match?
England scored 311-8 in the first innings courtesy of half-centuries from Jason Roy, Joe Root, Eoin Morgan and Stokes. Already struggling at 180-6 in 34 overs, Stokes’ catch was the final nail in the coffin for South Africa.
England won the match by 104 runs in the end. Stokes was awarded the Player of the Match award for scoring 89 (79) with the bat and bowling a spell reading 2.5-0-12-2 apart from the catch.
