Stokes stars with 182 in England's mammoth win vs New Zealand, hosts take unassailable 2-1 lead in ODI series

Ben Stokes, who recently came out of ODI retirement for the upcoming 50-over World Cup in India, slammed a career-best 182 as England romped past New Zealand in the third and penultimate ODI at The Oval, London. Opting to bowl first, Tom Latham-led Kiwis made a bright start with the Jos Buttler-led hosts reeling at 13 for 2 before Stokes-Dawid Malan (96) stitched a match-winning 199-run third-wicket stand as England posted a mammoth 368 all-out in 48.1 overs. In reply, the Black Caps folded for a paltry 187 in 39 overs.

With the win, England have now taken an unassailable 2-1 lead in the four-match series. For Stokes, he registered the highest individual score for England in the shorter format, going past opener Jason Roy's 180 versus Australia in early 2018. The left-hander has, thus, kicked off his second stint in the format in style ahead of the marquee event in India starting next month.

From NZ's perspective, their bowlers started off nicely but England's positive approach kept them at bay as they conceded runs at regular intervals. While they managed to restrict them under 370, courtesy of Trent Boult's 5 for 51, they were never in the hunt in the steep run-chase. Chris Woakes (3 for 31), Liam Livingstone (3 for 16) and Reece Topley (2 for 31) starred with the ball as England attained a massive win and went 2-1 up in the series.

After the match, Player-of-the-Match Stokes said at the post-match presentation, "Really pleased. Apologise to Jason (Jason Roy - for breaking his record of highest individual score for England). We spoke about putting New Zealand under pressure and get to a good start and even after losing those early wickets, we wanted to be positive."

He opined, "Once we got going, we didn't want them (bowlers) to settle. As experienced players, we need to guide the younger players. He (Malan) is a very consistent player, he is a very quality player, rotates the strike very well as well and missed out on the milestone after getting a strangle down leg. I'm feeling much better, Test matches are a bit longer but ODIs surely are not that demanding."

Meanwhile, captain Buttler stated, "Really pleased with the performance. Spoke at the toss about wanting to be more aggressive. Malan and Stokes had a brilliant partnership to put the pressure back on. There are levels we can keep achieving. There's more in the tank as well, which is exciting. That's the England way."

On Stokes, he added, "Stokesy's innings was incredibly special. Dawid's done brilliantly well everytime he's got his chance. That opening spell was as good as it gets from Woakes and Topley. Really pleased with today. Most important thing was that message of being aggressive. Feels we're heading in the right direction."

The fourth and final match takes place on Friday (September 15) at theLord's Cricket Ground, London. Both sides will meet at the iconic venue for the first time in this format sincethe epic 2019 ODI World Cup final.