A closer look at Ben Stokes’ record and impact in 50-over internationals

Stokes has made his final ODI appearance

Ben Stokes leaves the field for the final time in an ODI (Owen Humphreys/PA) (PA Wire)

England World Cup winner Ben Stokes ended his impressive one-day international career with a low-key performance in Tuesday’s game against South Africa.

The Test captain, whose astonishing performance in the final against New Zealand earned England their 2019 title, has been an integral figure in all formats for a decade but has determined that there is “too much cricket rammed in” to continue playing all three.

Here, the PA news agency looks at his record and impact in 50-over internationals.

ODI record

Stokes finishes with 105 one-day international appearances, with England winning 60 and losing 38, with two ties and five no-results.

In 90 innings culminating in Tuesday’s score of five on his home ground at Durham, he scored 2,924 runs at an average of 38.98 and a strike rate of 95.08 runs per 100 balls.

He bowled 88 times, taking 74 wickets at 42.39, and added 49 catches.

Batting

Ben Stokes played the innings of his life in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Archive)

Stokes hit three ODI centuries, despite batting at number five or below in all but 13 of his 90 innings.

He made 101 against both Bangladesh in October 2016 and South Africa in May 2017 before going one run better with 102 not out against Australia another month later.

The innings that will live longest in the memory, though, is his unbeaten 84 against New Zealand in the 2019 World Cup final at Lord’s to tie the game – he added eight of England’s 15 in the super over, and contributed eight of the 26 boundaries that saw them win on countback.

Stokes had earlier hit 89 against both South Africa and Australia to finish the tournament with 465 runs at an average of 66.42 and a strike rate of 93.18 – only India’s Rohit Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan of Bangladesh and Australia’s Aaron Finch made more runs quicker than Stokes in that World Cup.

He made 21 half-centuries in addition to his three tons and since his debut in August 2011, Stokes ranks sixth in ODI runs for England behind Joe Root, fellow recent retiree Eoin Morgan, new captain Jos Buttler, Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow.

Bowling and fielding

Stokes took his only five-wicket haul in one of his earliest ODIs against Australia (Chris Ison/PA) (PA Archive)

Stokes’ best bowling performances came early in his ODI career, with the balance shifting firmly to his batting as his time in the side progressed.

His only five-wicket haul and his one other four-wicket innings both came in his first 14 ODIs, and his first eight innings bowling.

He took five for 61 against Australia in Southampton in September 2013 and never improved on those figures, though his four for 38 against the same opposition in Perth four months later was arguably a more impressive performance. Having also made 70 batting at number three, he was named player of the match in England’s two-wicket win.

Since the start of the 2019 World Cup, Stokes has taken only 11 wickets in 21 games in the format, going wicketless in 13 of 19 innings including nought for 44 off five overs on his farewell appearance. He had three-wicket hauls against Bangladesh during that World Cup and India in Pune last year.

Nevertheless, Stokes ranks seventh in ODI wickets for England since his debut, behind Adil Rashid, Chris Woakes, Steven Finn, Liam Plunkett, Moeen Ali and David Willey.

He twice took three catches in an innings, in wins over New Zealand and India in 2018, and his 49 grabs include some stunners – perhaps most spectacularly his diving, one-handed boundary effort to remove South Africa’s Andile Phehlukwayo in the 2019 World Cup opener.