The last-ball win in the dead third ODI against India turned out to be a moment of redemption for England's Ben Stokes, who said the match-winning effort at the Eden Gardens here has exorcised the ghosts of World T20 final loss at the same venue.
Stokes turned out to be the fall guy in England's loss in the World Twenty20 final in Kolkata last April when he was clobbered for four consecutive sixes by Carlos Brathwaite in the last over to lift the trophy for the West Indies.
But Stokes played an instrumental role in handing England it's first win in the tour yesterday. He first scored a powerful 57 not out and then took three wickets for 63 to give the visitors a tense five-run win over India in the third and final ODI.
"There was a bit of banter flying round with the lads in the warm-up days, so it was nice to come back here and get rid of any bad memories from that game (World T20 final). But having said that it was just another game of cricket and it was nice to get the win," Stokes said at the post-match press conference Sunday night.
"It was nine months ago so memories of that have gone now," added the all-rounder, who celebrated the day with a customary cake-cutting in the changing room after their narrow five-run win.
Stokes produced an all-round effort yesterday. After his exploits with the bat, he picked up crucial wickets of India captain Virat Kohli (55), Hardik Pandya (56) and Ravichandran Ashwin en route to his 3-63 bowling spell to derail India's chase.
"It's nice to come out here and perform decently. But personally I feel there is still room for improvement with the ball. I've been very expensive over the last few series.
"Consistency is something I'm trying to work on because top players of the world are going to pounce on any bad ball," he said.
Didn't protect Stokes
England captain Eoin Morgan has said the ploy to bring in Chris Woakes for the last over in the inconsequential third ODI against India was not a way of protecting Ben Stokes, who had been hammered in a similar pressure situation during last year's World T20 final.
"No, not at all. I was actually thinking of bowling him two in a row and bowling him out because he bowled a great over and got the wicket of Pandya," Morgan said after their thrilling five-run win over India at Eden Gardens Sunday night in the third and final ODI.
"Some days they work, some days they don't. The bowlers made everything we did today look really good, which they do all the time."
Showering praise on Stokes, Morgan said: "I reckon he had more in the tank. He is an incredible player to have in the side. It's a luxury to have a player like him in your team. He always gives you everything he has got on the day, which is a lot. We don't take that for granted."