Ben Stokes will forever be viewed, like Sir Ian Botham said, as the Special One. What Stokes did to the Australians at Leeds on Sunday was as unbelievable as Botham's heroics at Leeds in 1981; as unfathomable as India's Eden Gardens conquest of Australia in 2001 and as inspiring as Brian Lara's match-winning 153 that stunned Australia at Barbados in 1999.

To bat with a No.11 batsman needs a different kind of skill — a smarter version of street smartness — and Stokes displayed all of that, although it may have been agonising for him to see his partner Jack Leach bat from the other end. Leach walked in when England needed 73 more and he proved to the world that his dictionary didn't include the word impossible. He was at the crease for one hour, faced 17 balls and scored the most important single of the match when he jabbed one off Pat Cummins to level the scores and get Stokes on strike.