England’s premier cricketer Ben Stokes finally lived up to his reputation of being the world’s most fearsome all-rounder as he put on a show of belligerent hitting during the second one-day international against India at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Friday. Chasing a mammoth 337-run target, Stokes single-handedly stole the show and turned the match in England’s favour with his extraordinary hitting. He hammered 99 runs off just 52 balls that included 10 huge sixes and four boundaries. However, Stokes missed out on a well-deserved century which would have been his fourth ton in the 50-over format.

Distraught after missing the elusive three-figure mark for England, the 29-year-old Stokes immediately looked up to the heavens and said ‘SORRY’ to his late father after getting out on 99. Stokes looked gutted as he makes the long way back to the pavilion.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar, India’s leading pacer, picked up Stokes wicket with a sharp short ball. He rushed the left-hander into the pull stroke and induced a bit of glove on its route through to wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant.

Earlier during the second ODI, Stokes received another official warning from the on-field officials after he mistakenly applied saliva on the match ball during the Indian innings in the second ODI on Friday.

The incident occurred in the fourth over, when Stokes was found to have forgetfully applying saliva on the ball and promptly the on-field umpires Nitin Menon and Virender Sharma warned skipper Jos Buttler. Incidentally, he also took a catch in the slips in the same over to dismiss Shikhar Dhawan of Reece Topley.

Applying saliva has been banned by the ICC after matches resumed post COVID-19 forced break.

As per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the ball was sanitized before proceedings resumed.

This is the second time that Stokes has been warned on this tour for applying saliva on the ball. The first instance happened during the Pink Ball Test in Ahmedabad, last month.