Ben: Take this form into Trophy
Ben Stokes called on England to carry their form into the ICC Champions Trophy after they wrapped up the Royal London Series against South Africa on Saturday.
Durham all-rounder Stokes once again demonstrated his star quality with a stunning 101 as England won a last-ball thriller by two runs at the Ageas Bowl to claim a 2-0 series win.
The 25-year-old, who hit 11 fours and three sixes from 79 balls, enthused: “It’s always nice hitting the ball well and knowing you’ve got a bit of form behind you.
“These three one-dayers are a great opportunity for that, for the whole team. We’ve seen Jos (Buttler) hitting the ball nicely, which is great for us going forward.
“Hopefully we can just continue going forward and continue this form into the Champions Trophy.”
After England had finished on 330-6, half-centuries from Quinton de Kock, David Miller and AB de Villiers, and some late big hitting from Chris Morris, took South Africa to the brink of a series-levelling victory.
But, defending seven runs from the last over, Durham paceman Mark Wood held his nerve to restrict the tourists to 3285 and give England the chance of sealing a 3-0 series success at Lord’s today.
“It’s unbelievable really,” said captain Eoin Morgan. “I don’t know how to explain it really. To have won it without taking wickets is an unbelievable effort.
“Woody’s yorkers are usually very good. So going against what he’s naturally good at, and just with his raw pace and variation with cross-seam off the wicket, worked through the day.
“Then, in that last over, I think he might have bluffed him a couple of times.”
Morgan added: “I think the tournament is bound to be pretty tight. There are a lot of good teams around so this sort of prep is ideal.”
England will rest Stokes, Chris Woakes and Moeen Ali as injury precautions in the final match today – and have brought Steven Finn, Toby Roland-Jones and Liam Dawson into their squad.
England’s opening Champions Trophy match is against Bangladesh at The Oval on Thursday.