NEW DELHI: Yuzvendra Chahal produced a moment of magic in the County Championship on Thursday, leaving Ben Stokes completely baffled with a stunning delivery that crashed into the England all-rounder’s stumps.Playing for Northamptonshire against Durham in Division Two, Chahal bowled Stokes for 14 on the second day at the County Ground in Northampton. The dismissal came in the 47th over with Durham struggling at 187 for six, and the manner in which the veteran leg-spinner outfoxed Stokes quickly became one of the talking points of the match.
Chahal castles Stokes with a beauty
Chahal came around the wicket and tossed one up outside off stump. Stokes appeared to have judged the line correctly and opted to defend, but the delivery had other ideas.The ball pitched outside off before turning sharply into the left-hander. Stokes’ bat came down without covering the gap between bat and pad, allowing the ball to sneak through and smash into the top of off stump.Stokes could only stand and stare at the pitch in disbelief before walking back to the pavilion, while Chahal celebrated with his Northamptonshire teammates.The wicket was Chahal’s third of the innings and capped a superb spell for the Indian spinner. He finished with figures of 4/36 from 15.2 overs as Durham were bowled out for 205 in 56.2 overs.David Bedingham top-scored for Durham with 81 off 91 balls, while Mayank Agarwal contributed 36. Alex Lees made 24 before becoming another of Chahal’s victims.
Stokes has had trouble against Indian spinners
The dismissal was another reminder of Stokes’ recent struggles against Indian spin in County cricket.In a previous County Championship outing against Gloucestershire, Stokes appeared well set before Sai Kishore produced a delivery that ended his innings at 45. The Durham all-rounder had struck seven fours and a six in a quick 43-ball knock before being outfoxed.Chahal’s latest dismissal was even more spectacular, with the ball turning sharply enough to beat both Stokes’ judgement and defence.
