“That Is A Corker!”: Mitchell Starc Uproots Ben Stokes’ Off-Stump With Absolute Jaffa At The Oval [WATCH]

England captain Ben Stokes (3) found himself at the receiving end of an absolute snorter of a delivery bowled by the Australia speedster Mitchell Starc (4/82) on the first day of the ongoing fifth Ashes 2023 Test at the Kennington Oval.

The moment of bewilderment for Stokes occurred during the afternoon session after his stay at the crease had been just over a dozen deliveries old. His side, meanwhile, had so far been Bazballing their way through on the back of striking at over five runs per over despite losing four batters.

Starc, with his fresh legs after the lunch break, was bowling his second over of the spell and the 39th over of the English innings. It was the third delivery of the over when he had left the southpaw batter slack-jawed with an absolute jaffa.

Mitchell Starc Uproots Ben Stokes’ Off-Stump With Absolute Jaffa At The Oval

The ball seemed to finish on the middle-stump line the moment Starc released the delivery. Stokes expected the delivery to arrive towards him at an angle from over the stumps. However, the ball managed to swing beautifully away from him and dismantled his off-stump as he played the wrong line.

Absolutely squared-up, Stokes ended up playing a nothing shot as he stood his ground for a few seconds in disbelief, before making a long walk back towards his team dressing room.

Mitchell Starc Dismisses Ben Stokes For Ninth Time In Tests

Readers must note that this was the ninth time when Mitchell Starc has managed to get the better of Stokes in Test cricket. India all-rounder Ravichandran Ashwin has dismissed the English skipper the most number of times (11) in this format followed by Australia spinner Nathan Lyon (9), who now gets levelled with the left-arm pacer at the second spot.

Following next in the list are the likes of Kemar Roach (7), Pat Cummins (6), Kagiso Rabada (6), and Anrich Nortje (5).

Fans could not help but compare Stokes’ dismissal of Starc at the Kia Oval to the one during England-Australia ICC World Cup 2019 league match at Lord’s. While he was greeted with an out-swinger today, the one during the World Cup was a devastating in-swinging yorker which had dismantled his off-stump. Watch the dismissal by clicking here.