World Cup hero Ben Stokes hit an unbeaten ton as England registered a sensational victory by one wicket at Headingley to keep the Ashes alive.

Having been bowled out for a mere 67 in their first innings, a target of 359 set by Australia looked out of sight, to say the least. And at 286-9 and still needing 73 more runs to win, the victory was just way far to reach.

But with Jack Leach holding his ground, Stokes played an unbeaten knock, which will go down as one of the best in history of Ashes, to guide England to their highest successful fourth-innings chase.

As the game reached its business end, Stokes got into the groove and hit spinner Nathan Lyon for two straight sixes before hitting Pat Cummins for a scoop six, which reduced England’s target to 40.

Overall, the all-rounder showed no mercy towards the Aussies, and hit 11 boundaries and eight sixes during his innings. Well, the game could have well truly taken a U-turn when Stokes was up against Lyon at a point when England needed just eight. An LBW appeal against the all-rounder was turned down by umpire Joel Wilson only for replays to suggest it would have been out. But having used all of their previous reviews, Australia had no other option but to move on.

Meanwhile, Stokes hit the winning runs by smashing Cummins for a four and this sent Twitter into a frenzy.

Feature image courtesy: AFP /Paul Ellis