Ben Stokes hits record-breaking 182 against New Zealand with World Cup around the corner

Ben Stokes put on a stunning batting display at the Oval on Wednesday in the third one-day international (ODI) between England and New Zealand, scoring 182 runs off of just 124 balls. This adds to Stokes' brilliant achievements in an England shirt.

This impressive batting performance included 15 fours and nine sixes and broke the record for the highest ODI score from an English batsman. Stokes' new record narrowly beats out the previous record of 180 by Jason Roy, which was recorded in a match against Australia in Melbourne in 2018.

Stokes' display led England to a fantastic final score of 368, with opening batsman David Malan contributing significantly as well with a score of 96. This gave New Zealand a mammoth total to chase down and thanks to an impressive performance from England's bowlers, the Black Caps did not get anywhere near the target.

Both Chris Woakes and Liam Livingstone took three wickets each whilst Reece Topley got a couple. New Zealand were all out for just 187 by the 39th over, giving England a comfortable victory of 181 runs and a 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Stokes recently announced his return to the ODI format this summer after reversing his retirement from last year in playing 50-over cricket. Stokes stepped away from ODI's due to the physical demand of playing all three formats and initially focused on just Test cricket and Twenty20 matches.

After defeating New Zealand in the third ODI yesterday, Stokes reflected on his record-breaking achievement.

He stated: "Individual stuff like that I'm not too fussed about. I didn't really know I'd done it until the bloke on the tannoy started announcing it and then I got out next ball."

Stokes also touched on getting familiar with playing ODIs again, saying: "I think today was good for me, to get familiarity again with how 50-over cricket goes. To get that game awareness, game smartness. There was a couple of times I had to check myself – I looked up and there was still 23, 24 overs left. That's how one-day cricket goes."

The renowned all-rounder made his return to the format in the first ODI of this series with New Zealand and his arrival back to ODI comes just in time for the World Cup in India, beginning next month. Stokes has been named in England's 15-man squad for the tournament and will be looking to help defend England's World Cup success from four years ago.

However, Stokes has ruled out playing as an all-rounder at the World Cup and will be operating as a batter only when England travel to India for the tournament. This is part of Stokes' plan to handle long-term issues with his left knee and being completely removed from bowling duties should help prolong his career and allow him to contribute across multiple formats.

Stokes' return to ODI gives England a massive boost ahead of the World Cup and provides the team with a much greater chance of repeating the success from four years ago. His recording of the highest ODI score by an English player demonstrates that he has settled back into the 50-over format and is in good form going into the World Cup.

England famously battled New Zealand in 2019's epic World Cup final at Lord's Cricket Ground, where Stokes scored 84 runs and batted in the deciding Super Over, which saw England come out on top. Both sides will face off against one another in each other's first game at the World Cup on October 5th in Ahmedabad.

Another positive for England is fast-bowler Jofra Archer recovering from an elbow problem which has kept him out of action in recent months. Archer is not in England's 15-man provisional squad for the tournament but could be included as one of three reserves which England can have for the World Cup, and potentially play some part in England's title defence.

Archer was very instrumental in the last World Cup for England, as he picked up 20 wickets in the tournament and bowled the Super Over in the final which resulted in England securing the trophy.

The final match in the ODI series between England and New Zealand will take place tomorrow at Lord's Cricket Ground where the home side will look to secure a series win and the Black Caps will look to level the series.