Stokes batters South Africa in blistering double ton

Ben Stokes got the best Test score by an England number six and the second fastest double century ever as South Africa were put to the sword on day two of the second Test in Cape Town.

Stokes had written himself a place in cricket history with the second fastest double century – off 163 balls – and the highest score by a No. 6, beating Doug Walters 250.

Nathan Astle (New Zealand) off 159 balls: When Astle, left, came to the crease for the first Test against England at Christchurch in 2002, New Zealand were 298 runs shy of victory.

Ben Stokes produced a magnificent batting performance that will go down in the annals of cricketing history as England took control of the second Test against South Africa in Cape Town.

Hashim Amla roared back to form with a masterly century while AB de Villiers continued his consistent run by scoring his 39th fifty as they joined an elite club on the third day of the second Test against England.

De Villiers became the third South African batsman to pass 8,000 runs while Amla, who last made a significant contribution with 208 runs against the West Indies in December 2014, moved past 7,000 runs. Eddie Paynter’s 243 in Durban and John Edrich 219 on the same ground are the other two in the list.

Although the Proteas are still 276 runs behind England’s first innings total of 629/6 declared, fifties from AB de Villiers and Faf du Plessis (who was unbeaten at the end of the day) ensured that they ended day three having lost just a solitary wicket.

Stokes came out of the traps with remarkable haste, adding 130 runs in the first session alone, and claimed his success was built around the simplest game plan of all.

“It was a very intense session and a half… we were kind of shellshocked by the way they were going”, he said.

South Africa were 199 for two at lunch, with South African captain Amla on 91 not out and vice-captain De Villiers on 56 not out.

South Africa were 24 for one wicket in reply at tea with a 605-run deficit.

Botham hailed a “magnificent” display by Stokes.

“It was see ball, hit ball I guess”, he chuckled after clubbing 30 fours and 11 sixes. We knew he’d got it, and this is the tip of the iceberg.