'Ben Stokes hundred full of character and presence'
'If there's one player you want to go into battle with, it's Stokes'
Sunday 9 October 2016 06:57, UK
Nasser Hussain hailed the 'character' and 'presence' of Ben Stokes after the England allrounder hit a maiden ODI hundred in the win over Bangladesh in Dhaka.
Stokes hit 101 - putting on 153 for the fourth wicket with debutant Ben Duckett (60) - as England posted 309-8 from their 50 overs.
"England should take a lot of credit for managing the great escape," Hussain said. "With Bangladesh 271-4 in that chase, they always believed they could win the game.
"I know a lot of England sides of old, and sides around the world, who would have said, 'We can't win this from here'.
"It was a fightback symptomatic of this team. Just look at England's innings, when they were 60-3, with two spinners on. I know a few England sides will stuttered and stumbled their way to about 100-5, 180-7, 200 all out, and this game will have been done and dusted.
"But today they were very proactive, Duckett knocking it around nicely and Stokes smashing it.
"Stokes has such character and presence. Plus, he is a real team man. If there's someone in that side who you want to go into battle with, it's Ben Stokes.
"Watch him at the end of the game, he goes and gets a stump - he has got a hundred, his first ever in ODIs - but he immediately picks up another one and goes and gives it to Jake Ball. He is always thinking of others in the team.
"What he has not always had though, is what he produced here today. He likes to hit through the line of the ball and belt it; think of where he has played his big innings in the past - Perth, Lord's, Cape Town.
"But with two spinners on, on a pitch that was just gripping, and a little bit slow, he had to work so hard.
"You could see Stokes was sweating buckets at the end of it all, while Duckett - under immense pressure himself - was ice cool, and really impressed me on debut.
"Stokes has worked so hard with the likes of Graham Thorpe at manoeuvring the ball, at sweeping, and getting his hands through the ball.
"That partnership with Duckett signified that we have a new Stokes, one that is not one-dimensional. If it wasn't for them - plus a little cameo from the skipper, Jos Buttler, at the end - England will have lost.
"It was a beautiful fightback by England. This place was packed and the noise here was deafening when Bangladesh were going at it in their chase. It is very difficult to fight a crowd like this, but England silenced them brilliantly."
Live One-Day International Cricket
Watch live coverage of the second ODI between Bangladesh and England on Sunday, from 9am on Sky Sports 2.
