Ben Stokes etched his name in record books when he took a five-wicket haul against India on day two of the Old Trafford Test.
Stokes took the wickets of India captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan on day one, followed by the scalps of Shardul Thakur, Washington Sundar, and Anshul Kamboj on the second day to finish with figures of 5-72, his fifth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. The last time he took five or more wickets in a Test innings was eight years back, a 6-22 against the West Indies at Lord's in 2017.
Stokes' effort ensured India were restricted under 400 even as Rishabh Pant walked out to bat with a broken foot after having suffered an injury on the first day. Pant made 54 as India recorded their sixth 350-plus total in the series, the first time they have done so.
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4th Test, England vs India
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Ben Stokes joins elite all-round company
With this five-for, Stokes has become just the fourth cricketer to have taken five or more five-wicket hauls and scored ten or more hundreds in Test cricket. The three others to have done this before him being Jacques Kallis, Ian Botham, and Garry Sobers.
By the end of India's first innings at the Old Trafford Test, Stokes has 13 centuries to his name with an average of 35.15 with the bat. His bowling average of 31.63 is the second-best among the four all-rounders in this list, while his batting average is the third best.
Stokes' overall wicket-tally in Test cricket has gone up to 229, the 13th-highest among England players. His run-tally sits on 6,891, making him the third-highest run-scorer in Test cricket among those who have taken more than 200 wickets, after Kallis and Sobers.
Returning from injury, Stokes' bowling efforts in the India series have been particularly impressive. At the time of writing, he averages 24.75 with the ball, having taken 16 wickets, the most he has ever taken in any bilateral Test series, surpassing the 2013/14 away Ashes where he took 15 wickets at 32.80.
Test cricketers with 5 five-fors and 10 hundreds: Full list
| Player | Matches | Runs | Highest | Bat Avg | 100s | Wkts | BBI | Bowl Av | 5-fors | Avg Diff |
| Jacques Kallis (ICC/SA) | 166 | 13289 | 224 | 55.37 | 45 | 292 | 6/54 | 32.65 | 5 | 22.71 |
| Ben Stokes (ENG) | 115* | 6891 | 258 | 35.15 | 13 | 229 | 6/22 | 31.63 | 5 | 3.52 |
| Ian Botham (ENG) | 102 | 5200 | 208 | 33.54 | 14 | 383 | 8/34 | 28.4 | 27 | 5.14 |
| Garry Sobers (WI) | 93 | 8032 | 365* | 57.78 | 26 | 235 | 6/73 | 34.03 | 6 | 23.74 |
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