Revealed: Ben Stokes did this to calm down his nerves ahead of the Super Over in 2019 WC final
XtraTime Web Desk: The pressure of a big final can get into the most daredevil cricketer. And that is what happened to England all rounder Ben Stokes during the 2019 Cricket World Cup. Stokes was so tensed that he decided to smoke a cigarette in order to release the pressure of him ahead of the Super Over. The startling revelation comes from an excerpt of a newly released book named 'Morgan's Men: The Inside Story of England's Rise from Cricket World Cup Humiliation to Glory' written by Nick Hoult and Steve James.
Quoting an excerpt from the book, stuff.co.nz wrote: "Lord's is a cacophony of noise. Music is blaring out of the public address system and the atmosphere is raw as the World Cup final comes down to a Super Over. Twelve balls will settle a seven-week tournament and decide the legacy of this England team.
"Finding a quiet spot as the frenzy of the Super Over approached was hard in a ground packed out with 27,000 supporters and television cameras following the players from the middle, through the Long Room and up the stairs to the dressing room.
"But Ben Stokes had played at Lord's many times. He knows every nook and cranny. As Eoin Morgan tries to bring calm to the England dressing room and sort out their tactics, Stokes nips off for a moment of peace.
"He is covered in dirt and sweat. He has batted for two hours and 27 minutes of unbelievable tension. What does Stokes do? He goes to the back of the England dressing room, past the attendant's little office and into the showers. There he lights up a cigarette and has few minutes on his own."
Stokes played a blinder in the final, scoring 84 not out to help England level the scores put up by New Zealand. He stitched a valuable 100 runs partnership for the fifth wicket with Jos Buttler (59). It was Stokes’s knock that took the match to Super Over. England edged out the Blackcaps by virtue of boundary count rule. England had scored 26 boundaries as compared to New Zealand's 17 boundaries and based on this tie-breaker rule the hosts were declared the winners.
