New English Test captain Ben Stokes smashes many records in his Durham comeback

People say captaincy tests your true ability to handle the pressure on and off the field. The 30-year-old all-rounder Ben Stokes, who has recently been selected as the new Test captain of the England cricket team, is playing his first competitive game after accepting the new role in the English Test team, where he has already smashed some big records with his powerful batting.

Durham are currently busy in the ongoing season of the County Championship Division Two where they are playing against the hosts Worcestershire from 5th May. After Durham chose to bat first, they managed to score 580/6 (declare) in the first innings.

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Ben Stokes came to bat in his Durham comeback in just the third over of the second day of the ongoing first-class match. While the left-handed batter completed his first fifty in the game in 47 deliveries, he reached the 100 in just 64 balls. After hitting five consecutive sixes and one four in an over to complete his 20th first-class century, Stokes stretched his batting to 161 runs off only 88 balls with the help of 8 fours and county record-breaking 17 sixes.

Ben Stokes smashed 6,6,6,6,6,4 runs in an over

It was the 117th over when Stokes smashed 34 runs in an over of the 18-year-old Worcestershire’s left-arm spinner Josh Baker. Stokes began that over with his score of 70 runs in 59 balls. The left-handed batter smashed five sixes in a row to complete his century in just 64 balls. While he was very close to becoming the third ever batter to hit six sixes in an over in first-class cricket history (after Sir Garry Sobers and Ravi Shastri), he ended that over with a four.

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Batter with the most runs in an over in first-class cricket history

(Special Notes: 1. All instances were only six-ball overs

2. Runs scored in an over (Ball-by-ball scores) – The more than six balls overs were counted with the extras, which detailed information hasn’t been given here.

3. These stats excluded contrived instances according to espncricinfo.com)

Ben Stokes’ record sixes in County Championship history

Meanwhile, Ben Stokes’ 17 sixes are the new record in County Championship history. Breaking the previous record of 16 sixes each by Andrew Symonds (Gloucestershire) and Graham Napier (Essex), Stokes is now the new record holder of most sixes in an innings in the County Championship history.

Check here Fastest centuries in Test Cricket

Most sixes in an innings in County Championship history

However, Stokes is currently in the joint fifth position in the list of most sixes in a first-class innings. 

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Most sixes in an innings in first-class cricket

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