Ben Stokes in tears for last ODI before retirement, gets dismissed for 5 runs

England’s Test captain Ben Stokes recently shocked the whole cricket fraternity when he announced his plans to retire from the ODI format after the first match of the ongoing series against South Africa. In his final ODI game, Stokes was visibly emotional however, he didn’t enjoy a memorable outing as the all-rounder was dismissed for just 5 runs. 

In his statement, Stokes stated that playing all-three formats had become ‘unsustainable’ for him, and thus he didn’t want to block the spot for any of his teammates. 

Playing in front of his home crowd in Durham, Stokes walked out to play his final ODI game for England against South Africa on Tuesday. The all-rounder was allowed to lead out his teammates, in a heartwarming gesture from the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). 

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Stokes, however, got visibly emotional as he teared up while leading his teammates onto the pitch for his final ODI, in place of captain Jos Buttler. 

THE ECB later shared a video of the all-rounder as he kept wiping his tears. The fans in the stadium gave their local hero a standing ovation. 

Watch:

#ENGvSA | @benstokes38 pic.twitter.com/teNgTVlV7T
— England Cricket (@englandcricket) July 19, 2022

The 31-year-old could leave a mark in his final ODI as he was dismissed after scoring just 5 runs, suffering an LBW-off Aiden Markram’s delivery.

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South Africa would go on to win the match by 62 runs, courtesy of Anrich Nortje’s four-wicket haul as the Three Lions folded for 271. 

Earlier, Rassie Van der Dussen’s 134-run knock and Markram’s 77-run inning had helped the Proteas score 333/5 in their respective 50 overs.