England star all-rounder Ben Stokes is all set to return to the cricketing action in a game for Durham against the Birmingham Bears in the ongoing edition of the Vitality Blast T20 tournament.
Stokes was ruled out of the action in the early part of the Indian Premier League when he broke his hand while attempting to catch a ball fielding at long-on playing for the Rajasthan Royals.
He was ruled out of the remainder of the IPL and England coach Chris Silverwood had last month said that Stokes’ return will begin with the Vitality Blast tournament.
Meanwhile, Nottingham Outlaws all-rounder Samit Patel has registered his name in the record books of T20 cricket. He has become the first English cricketer to claim 200 wickets in T20 and 5000 runs in the format. He already had more than 5,000 runs in his career and took two wickets in the last game to go past the 250-wicket mark.
He reached the dual landmarks in the last game against Derbyshire where he put on an all-round performance to win his side an important game. He first scored a sublime half century with the bat to help Notts post a good total on the board and picked up two wickets with the ball to help them defend the score.