Stokes exorcises Eden ghosts

Kolkata, January 23 

Stokes turned out to be the fall guy in England’s loss in the World T20 final in Kolkata last April when he was clobbered for four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the last over. But Stokes played a vital role in handing England their first win on the tour on Sunday. 

He first scored an unbeaten 57 and then took three wickets to give the visitors a tense five-run win. “There was a bit of banter flying round with the lads in the warm-up days, so it was nice to come back here and get rid of any bad memories from that game (World T20 final). But having said that, it was just another game of cricket and it was nice to get the win,” said Stokes.

“It was nine months ago, so memories of that have gone now,” said the all-rounder, who celebrated the day with a customary cake-cutting in the changing room.

Stokes produced an all-round effort yesterday. After his exploits with the bat, he picked up the crucial wickets of India captain Virat Kohli (55), Hardik Pandya (56) and Ravichandran Ashwin en route his 3/63 bowling spell to derail India’s chase. 

“It’s nice to come out here and perform decently. But personally I feel there is still room for improvement with the ball. I’ve been very expensive over the last few series. Consistency is something I’m trying to work on because top players of the world are going to pounce on any bad ball,” he said. — PTI