England’s current Test captain Ben Stokes wanted to give a fitting response to Australian opener David Warner during the third Ashes 2019 Test at Headingley. Warner was continuously sledging Stokes during his innings but the all-rounder didn’t pay much heed whilst playing one of the best innings of his career to seal a historic victory.
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Stokes concentrated on his game and decided against indulging in a war of words even after winning the game. This gave him an ulterior sense of satisfaction primarily because of the fact that he had powered his team to a win in one of the closest Ashes matches.
Having lost the first match of the series and drawn the second one, the third Test was of immense importance for the home team. On a difficult batting track, Australia scored 179 runs in the first innings and England were bundled out for just 67 runs.
Chasing a 359-run target in the fourth innings, England were 286/9 with a defeat seeming inevitable. However, Stokes then stitched a match-winning 76-run partnership with spinner Jack Leach. Stokes, who scored 135* (219), played a knock for the ages. The fact that Leach scored just 1* (17) in the partnership is a testament to Stokes’ domination.
Why Ben Stokes Didn’t Sledge David Warner During Iconic Headingley Test
In his book titled ‘On Fire’, Stokes revealed that he was extra motivated to do well in that match. With Warner having a go at him on a regular basis, Stokes was constantly thinking about silencing the Australian batter but eventually managed to control himself after winning.
“I muttered ‘Bloody Warner’ a few times as I was getting changed. The more time passed, the more it spurred me on. All kinds of ideas of what I might say to him at the end of the game went through my head. In the end, I vowed to do nothing other than shake his hand and say ‘Well done’.”
Stokes shook hands with Warner and was proud and satisfied for avoiding a potential conflict. Warner had a terrible Ashes series and Stokes insisted that he was trying to get over that by doing those stuff in which he was not successful in the end. Readers must note that Warner and Stokes had a history of verbal altercations and this one would have been just another instance of them not getting along well. Even Warner’s wife, Candice Warner, had once uttered some disrespectful words for Stokes.
When Candice Warner Called Ben Stokes a Disgusting Guy.
Ahead of Ashes 2017-18 in Australia, Candice had lashed out at Stokes. She said that she does not want the all-rounder to come to the series after what he did at a nightclub. Even pacer Mitchell Starc asked the fans to have a go at Stokes during the games.
“I know the Australian players would love to have [Ben] Stokes out here because they want to play against the best, but I don’t think he can come, I really don’t,” Candice had told Channel 9 back then.
“That footage is disgusting, it is really, really bad.”
In 2017, Stokes along with fellow batter Alex Hales was caught in an infamous incident. Stokes was accused of knocking a person unconscious outside the bar in Bristol in a drunk condition. He was suspended after the incident.
