Ben Stokes likely to be awarded knighthood for his World Cup knock
England all-rounder Ben Stokes registered his name in the books of cricket after with his commendable knock of 84 of 98 balls in the ICC World Cup 2019 final against New Zealand. His efforts guided England to their maiden tournament title where the team won a tied match by the virtue of scoring more boundaries.
Since the win, the talks of bestowing Stokes with the knighthood have been in the air due to his man-of-the-match performance. Both the UK prime ministerial candidates, who are in the running to replace Britain Prime Minister Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt seem to agree with the consensus too.
They believe that Stokes should be knighted with Johnson proposing to make him a Duke.
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“I will give dukedoms, whatever – I will go to the maximum, to, what, the Garter King of Arms. Yes is the answer, absolutely,” Boris Johnson said in a rapid-fire series while concluding the leadership debate, hosted by The Sun and talkRADIO.
Earlier, Johnson congratulated England on their win via Twitter. “An incredible day of sport! @LewisHamilton wins the British Grand Prix, @EnglandCricket win the #CWC19Final – and well done @DjokerNole at Wimbledon! I still treasure the tennis racket you gave me after our last match,” he tweeted.
Won’t make any trite comparisons about other contests where the seemingly impossible really can happen…but so proud to see the England cricket team lift the World Cup trophy for the first time on home soil! #cwc2019 #britishgp #winners
— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 14, 2019
Hunt too tweeted similar emotions and when asked, he said, “Of course”.
“Won’t make any trite comparisons about other contests where the seemingly impossible really can happen…but so proud to see the England cricket team lift the World Cup trophy for the first time on home soil! #cwc2019 #britishgp #winners,” Hunt tweeted.
An incredible day of sport! @LewisHamilton wins the British Grand Prix, @EnglandCricket win the #CWC19Final – and well done @DjokerNole at Wimbledon! I still treasure the tennis racket you gave me after our last match ??
— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) July 14, 2019
Chasing a target of 242 against the Kiwis was made possible by the 110-run partnership between Jos Buttler (59) and Ben Stokes (84) that ensured the match went to a Super Over.
The partnership continued in the Super Over as well where they scored 15 runs, including a boundary. Bowler Jofra Archer restricted New Zealand to yet another tie, although the English won on the basis of a superior boundary count.
Also read: Cricketers, Kiwis supporters slam ICC rule of counting boundaries to break ties
England captain Eoin Morgan, in the post-match interview called Stokes a “superhuman”.
“To come through it is extraordinary. He’s almost superhuman. He really carried the team and our batting line-up. I know Jos (Buttler) and his partnership was extraordinary, but to bat with the lower order the way he did, I thought, was incredible,” he said.
“Ben on numerous occasions has stood up individually and in a unit for us. He leads the way in training, in any team meetings we have, and he’s an incredible cricketer. And today he’s had a huge day out and obviously we are thankful for that,” Morgan added.
