VIDEO | Ben Stokes walks off despite umpire ruling him not out to leave Old Trafford in shock
In this Ashes, there have been small moments, there have been big moments, then there's this moment today - the dismissal of Ben Stokes. After a Pat Cummins ball flew past his inside-edge, Stokes decided to walk off before the umpire gave him out to leave everyone in the ground in a state of shock.
At the conclusion of Day 4, England went into the dressing room knowing that they had a massive mountain to climb. But then again, they drew inspiration from their win at Headingley, where they literally snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. Back in Headingley, it was their star man Ben Stokes who made the impossible a reality and heading into Day 5, once again, England's hopes rested on the all-rounder.
Surprisingly enough, Jason Roy and Joe Denly put up a valiant partnership and survived the first hour. But soon after, Roy was undone by an absolute peach by Pat Cummins, who went through the Surrey man's gate in the 25th over. Stokes then arrived at the crease - perhaps later than he expected - to thunderous applause from the Manchester crowd, as they knew England's hopes solely rested on his shoulders.
He started off his innings similar to Headingley, blocking blocking blocking, negating the threat from Nathan Lyon. However, things were about to take a drastic turn. On the second ball of the 31st over, a snorter from Cummins pitched around the off-stump line and nagged back off the seam, flying past the inside-edge of Stokes. An excited Tim Paine dove to his right and took the catch, as both he and Cummins let out a half-hearted appeal.
As the Aussies appealed, there was no reaction from the on-field umpire Marais Erasmus. For a moment, it did look like Stokes was once again going to survive and punish the Aussies. However, to everyone's shock, the all-rounder walked off the field despite the umpire ruling him not out. This particular move from Stokes even surprised the Aussies, who celebrated in disbelief as they realized they'd now gotten the man who denied them the urn in Leeds.
As Stokes made his way back to the pavilion, there was stunning silence in Manchester, almost giving away the impression that all hope was lost. Was this the moment that won the Ashes for Australia? Only time will tell.
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