"Taken me a while to type this with gritted teeth" - Ben Stokes congratulates Australia with a cheeky message on their 2023 World Cup win
England all-rounder Ben Stokes admitted that it was not easy to congratulate their old enemy, Australia, on winning the 2023 World Cup. The all-rounder took to his official account on X and stated that it took a while to type with gritted teeth and congratulate Pat Cummins' men.
Australia brought their A-game in the 2023 World Cup final against hosts India at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad in front of a record crowd. Cummins, who won the toss, bravely elected to bowl first despite the Indian batters' supreme form. However, the tourists also justified their decision with a disciplined bowling performance, bowling the Men in Blue out for 240.
Meanwhile, Stokes took to X and wrote that lifting the World Cup after 8 weeks of intense cricket is the best feeling.
"Taken me a while to type this with gritted teeth. Congrats to Pat Cummins and his Australia team on winning the World Cup, after 8 weeks of hard fought cricket there is nothing better than lifting that trophy at the end of it."
After restricting Rohit Sharma and co. to 240, Australia lost 3 wickets for 47 runs within the first 10 overs. However, Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne played sensibly from that point and sealed a six-wicket victory. Head also received the Player of the Match award for his 137.
Ben Stokes had a decent campaign but England failed to defend their crown
Meanwhile, England started their campaign as the defending champions and came in with high expectations of retaining the crown. Nevertheless, things went awry from the outset as they lost to New Zealand in the opening game. Jos Buttler and co. beat Bangladesh but succumbed to losses against Afghanistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, India and Australia before finishing their campaigns with victories over the Netherlands and Pakistan.
Stokes, who reversed his retirement to play in the 2023 World Cup, missed the first three matches due to a dodgy knee. The English Test skipper finished his campaign with 304 runs in 6 matches at an average of 50.67.