Cape Town [South Africa], August 14 (ANI): SA 20 franchise MI Cape Town have secured the signings of England Test captain Ben Stokes along with New Zealand’s famed swing-bowler Trent Boult ahead of the new season.
His inclusion in the SA 20 will mark the return of Stokes in Newlands, where he showed his class and played a majestic 258-run knock in 198 balls against South Africa in 2016.
The 33-year-old has produced box-office performances, and he will be keen to replicate his performances for MI Cape Town as well.
Stokes’ list of achievements is in line with a fairytale. He took England over the line in the epic 2019 ICC men’s ODI final at Lord’s. He garnered 84* to help England level the scores with New Zealand.
Stokes was also at the crease to hit the winning runs when England defeated Pakistan in the ICC men’s T20 World Cup final at the MCG three years later.
It was a poignant moment in history as England became the first men’s team to simultaneously hold both ICC white-ball trophies.
Since that triumph, Stokes has switched his focus to red-ball cricket, where he has revolutionised England’s approach to Test matches with the ‘Bazball’ approach.
His natural attacking instincts have come to the fore yet again with Stokes promoting himself to open the innings in the recent third and final Test against the West Indies. He followed it up with a record for the fastest Test half-century by an England batter off just 24 balls, surpassing Ian Botham’s 28-ball fifty from 1981 against India in Delhi.
Stokes’ immense match-winning ability and “X-factor” has also been recognised at the Indian Premier League, where he played for the Rising Pune Supergiant, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings. He was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player in 2017.
Overall, Stokes has scored 3023 runs in 159 T20 matches at an average of 24.77 at a strike-rate of 133.23. Equally, he has claimed 90 wickets at an average of 30.38.
Notably, Stokes is currently injured after tearing a hamstring while featuring for the Northern Superchargers in The Hundred. He is expected to be fully fit for England’s tour of Pakistan in October.
Along with Stokes, Boult will also look to leave his impression for MI Cape Town in the SA 20. Boult delivered the final over and the Super Over to Stokes at Lord’s in 2019.
Boult is regarded as one of the finest left-arm bowlers of his generation, having led the Black Caps attack during their golden era. The 35-year-old was part of the Black Caps squad that reached successive ICC men’s ODI World Cup finals – 2015 and 2019 – and also the ICC men’s T20 World Cup final in 2021.
He eventually, though, tasted success on the global stage, playing a major part in New Zealand’s World Test Championship triumph.
Boult is a vastly experienced T20 campaigner having been part of the IPL since 2015, and since claimed 121 wickets in 104 matches. He will once again be part of the MI family after spending two seasons with Mumbai Indians, claiming a sensational 25 wickets in 15 matches that helped MI win the IPL title in 2020.
“MI, MI Emirates, MI New York and now MI Cape Town. I’ll be donning the Blue-and-Gold colours in the edition of SA20. Playing at the scenic Newlands is going to be special. I know, it’s going to be Lekker,” Boult said in a statement released by MI Cape Town.
Boult also plays for MI New York in the Major Cricket League in the United States, where he played a major role in MINY becoming the first team to lift the MLC title in 2023. He finished as the tournament’s leading wicket-taker with 22 scalps – exactly double more than the second-placed Andrew Tye. (ANI)
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