At The Oval, fans went crazy after Ben Stokes took a stunner in the outfield. In the opening game of the World Cup between England and South Africa, Stokes scored 89 runs, took 2 wickets and then took 2 catches for England. Despite being the highest scorer from both sides, it was his catch which became the talk of the town.
Former English captain Nasser Hussain, who was on the air, couldn’t believe his eyes, “No way! No, no way! You cannot do that, Ben Stokes. That is remarkable. That is one of the greatest catches of all time!”
Have you EVER seen a better catch? ?
Ben Stokes with a grab that has to be seen to be believed!#WeAreEngland #CWC19 pic.twitter.com/rpN04OxVTk— ICC (@ICC) May 30, 2019
The co-commentator Sourav Ganguly also in disbelief called it one the best catches of all time. The reaction started pouring from all over the world, especially on Twitter.
Harsha Bhogle in his tweet said this might be the catch of the tournament already.
First day of the World Cup and we might have seen the catch of the tournament! #BenStokes
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 30, 2019
Former South African player, Jonty Rhodes, who is regarded as the best fielder of all time by many, couldn’t stop himself from expressing his feeling when a fan asked him about the catch.
Amazing how “boundary riding” has become fielding focus in the modern game – only time @hershybru and I ever left the inner ring was to chase the ball down en route to the rope!!!! https://t.co/lKBmJHOUT3
— Jonty Rhodes (@JontyRhodes8) May 30, 2019
Eoin Morgan, captain of England team, was also shaking his head in disbelief, “he misjudged it at the start. He ran in, stopped and then I thought it was going to be way over his head. The next leap in that direction, unbelievable. I’ve only seen a catch like that made before by AB De Villiers in a game in Bangalore.”
But Stokes still doesn’t believe that this was the best catch taken by him. He said in a post-match presentation that the catch he took in 2015 Ashes was better than this because that was against Australia.
‘”The crowd’s reaction behind me was pretty awesome. I just tried to take that in as much as I could,” said Stokes.
