Watch: Drama at Lord’s! Massive reprieve for Ben Stokes against New Zealand in Lord’s Test

The Lord’s Test between England and New Zealand witnessed a dramatic turnaround following a costly no-ball from Colin de Grandhomme that provided opposition skipper and premier allrounder Ben Stokes a huge reprieve. 

Yet to get into his knock properly in the final innings of the low-scoring Test match on Day 3, Stokes went about trying to cut a slower delivery from De Grandhomme towards the off-side. 

The batter was on the move to try and find the optimum connection in his stroke. But the lack of pace on the ball meant he could only underedge the ball onto his off-stump for the loss of the fifth wicket in the England innings. 

At 77 for 5, chasing a stiff 277-run target, Ben Stokes’ wicket felt like a final nail in the coffin for the home side. Just then, however, the television official confirmed a no-ball to the on-field umpire and Stokes was recalled to the pitch, leading to a massive turn in the game. 

Ben Stokes gets reprieved off a no-ball from De Grandhomme 

The no-ball came to light at the halfway mark of the 27th over in England’s second innings. Having toiled hard for 18 balls with an individual score of only 1, Ben Stokes was itching to get his innings going. 

To do so, he decided to target New Zealand’s fifth bowler De Grandhomme, who was smart enough to gauge the left-hander’s intent and almost did him in with a ball that stuck onto the surface for crucial milliseconds and denied Stokes the connection he wanted. 

The ball hit the splice of the bat and thumped onto the off-stump, forcing the bails to fall off and for Stokes to initiate his long walk back. 

WATCH: Colin de Grandhomme’s brainfade moment; gets run-out looking at umpire on an LBW shout

The commentators started to talk up the piece of bowling from De Grandhomme and how critical is Stokes’ wicket in context of England’s run-chase. 

But soon, the no-ball was confirmed by the television official, who asked standing umpire Michael Gough to signal for the illegal delivery and allow Stokes to resume his innings. 

A huge reprieve. Yet more drama in this Test match…

Scorecard/Clips: https://t.co/w7vTpJwrLP

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— England Cricket (@englandcricket) June 4, 2022

A switch from carrying a dismayed look on his face to the one that had all the relief summed up how valuable even Stokes knew his wicket was in that situation. 

The left-hander went on to make New Zealand pay badly for their mistake by scoring a fighting 54 off 110 balls before he was ultimately dismissed.