England Test skipper Ben Stokes recalled Nathan Lyon dropping a run-out chance in one of the games in Ashes 2019. In the famous Leeds Test which he won single-handedly, the Three Lions needed two runs with one wicket in hand. Stokes played a reverse sweep only to find a fielder. On the other hand, Jack Leach who was batting at the other end, set off for a run only to be sent back.
However, it was a little too late for the left-arm spinner as it seemed initially. In what was one of the easiest chances, Lyon fumbled and Leach eventually made it. It led to the latter scoring the match-saving run, ensuring England wouldn’t lose. In the end, Stokes scored the winning runs, registering a famous win. Meanwhile, four years after this, Stokes dropped the catch of Lyon in the first Test of the ongoing Ashes 2023.
At the time, the Kangaroos needed 37 runs to win with two wickets left. Eventually, the likes of Nathan and skipper Pat Cummins took the team home with two wickets left.
I relive Nathan Lyon’s missed runout chance in my head now – Ben Stokes
“Who knows, if I do take that catch we might have got Josh (Hazlewood, Australia’s number 11) out first ball and we win the game,” Stokes said, in revealing he initially had trouble picking up the flight of the ball off Lyon’s bat.
“But Josh could have come in and they still knock the runs off, you just never know.
“Going back to Headingley with Gaz (Lyon) dropping the ball over the stumps, it’s amazing how the world comes around.
“I drop that catch here and he’s there at the end, as one of the not out batsmen for Australia.
“It’s mad how things go around, isn’t it?
“I relive it in my head now, it was in my hand and it didn’t manage to stick.
“It’s one of those could-a, should-a, would-a moments … would have been a good catch though.
“Oh well, next one.”
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"It's mad how things go around, isn't it?”
Four years ago, Nathan Lyon’s fumble allowed Ben Stokes to triumph in an #Ashes epic. At Edgbaston, roles were reversed pic.twitter.com/mZINdAFOoF
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) June 21, 2023
