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.
https://twitter.com/JOE_co_uk/status/1131862455527837696
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:
https://twitter.com/Swannyg66/status/1134131490240040960
https://twitter.com/collinsadam/status/1134130377105256449
https://twitter.com/flexiturb/status/1134130095612932098
https://twitter.com/SuperSportTV/status/1134132183445188609
https://twitter.com/bhogleharsha/status/1134130052206141440
https://twitter.com/Vitu_E/status/1134129822794420224
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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwM95gnWzw4
