Stokes finds form with powerful 93

Canterbury 217 for 9 (Stokes 93, Duffy 5-39) beat Otago 83 (Astle 3-18) by 134 runs
Scorecard

Ben Stokes made his first significant impact during his stint with Canterbury as he struck a powerful 93 off 47 balls in the Super Smash against Otago.

Stokes pummelled seven sixes and six fours before falling in the final over of the innings, after powering Canterbury over 200, searching for another six and the chance of a century.

It followed scores of 2, 34 and 0 in his three Ford Trophy appearances since arriving in New Zealand at the start of December after he was granted a No Objection Certificate by the ECB despite being unavailable for England selection.

"You could use a number of words to describe that, but that's what world-class is," Andrew Ellis, the Canterbury captain, told stuff.co.nz. "He showed that in the temperament of the innings, it shows experience. It's a match-winning innings."

Stokes then claimed the wicket of Rob Nicol as Otago folded to 83 all out. Legspinner Todd Astle, who is in the New Zealand one-day squad to face West Indies later this month, cleaned up the innings with 3 for 18.