England all-rounder Ben Stokes played his final ODI of his career in the recently played first match of the three-ODI series against South Africa in front of his home crowd in Durham on July 19, 2022. Stokes had previously announced his retirement from 50-over format after this encounter.
South Africa had the better of England after they made 333/5 batting first and restricted England to 271, winning the first match by 62 runs.
Stokes had an underwhelming outing in his final ODI bowling 5 overs for 44 runs without a wicket and made 5 runs in 11 balls before Aiden Markram had him out LBW.
In a heartwarming gesture for a fan, Stokes gifted his Three Lions cap to a young lad as the England all-rounder walked off the pitch for one last time in the 50-over format. The young fan’s day was made after an emotional Stokes also autographed the cap which was gifted to him.
"A class act until the end @benstokes38 gave his final cap to this young lad as he walked off the pitch!," England's Barmy Army posted on Twitter.
Not only this, the entire crowd at the Chester-Le-Street ground in Durham stood on their feet to give a fitting farewell to Ben Stokes, one of their favorite sons as he walked off the field for the last time in ODI format.
England cricket shared the video on their Twitter with caption reading: “An inspiration. A legend. A champion. Thank you for everything, @benstokes38”
Meanwhile, South Africa had batted first after captain Keshav Maharaj won the toss. Rassie van der Dussen led from the front with 134, while Aiden Markram made 77 and Janneman Malan made 57 runs.
In reply, England were never in chase despite Jonny Bairstow’s 63 and Joe Root’s 86. Anrich Nortje picked 4/53, while Aiden Markram and Tabraiz Shamsi picked two wickets apiece.
