Stokes adopts easy mantra to flay South Africa

We can be easily to criticise South African’s bowling, but how could you bowl to a masterclass that would be appreciated in any format of the game. It’s just a very patient and frustrating time, and we as players understand that and accept it. People just have to understand that we are going through a rebuilding phase – we’ve got a new captain, a new opening pair, almost a new middle-order – and we showed it yesterday (on Saturday) with our bowling depth as well.

Kevin Pietersen’s trilogy of spectacular hundreds in 2012 – at Headingley against South Africa, Sri Lanka in Colombo and India at Mumbai – plus his Ashes-sealing 158 against Australia at The Oval in 2005 were probably the greatest scored by any England batsman in recent memory. It was McCullum’s second double ton of 2014 as New Zealand won by an innings and 80 runs.

“I was conscious of getting out of the way when he got his first hundred”.

Those batsman-friendly conditions meant there was pressure for Stokes and Bairstow to push on this morning and make sure a large first-innings total was achieved. They both batted handsome with Bairstow playing his shots along the carpet and Ben clearing the rope 11 times for his 258.

In the same over, Bairstow reached his 150 and England declared immediately after scoring 629 runs losing six wickets from 125.5 overs. No boundary’s big enough, no bowler’s quick enough.

South Africa promptly lost Van Zyl to a calamitous run out before tea – a clear side-effect of being pummelled around Newlands – before Stokes made his mark with the ball. He scored 130 runs before lunch, a Test record.

On Stokes, he added: “It was unbelievable at the other end to be out there, some of the strokes he played were second to none”. To play a knock like that is something quite spectacular. South Africa made a bad start when Van Zyl pushed James Anderson into the covers and set off for a run. “I just tried to hit as many boundaries as I could because it was too hot to run”.

Stokes’ barrage was only ended as he chased yet more runs before the declaration, although his exit was in the end comedic. – It was the quickest Test double century (163 balls) by an England player, beating Ian Botham’s 220-ball effort in 1982.

The carnage continued after lunch with Bairstow joining in the party to finish unbeaten on 150. He had troubles earlier in his career, and had been dropped many times, and been second best to Jos Buttler for a while.

For good measure, their fielding got more and more scratchy and sometimes even comical as visitors England completed one of their most prosperous and explosive first innings in history in the second Test. England were looking as if they would struggle to collect a total of 400 after the top 4 all got in and got out, and slumped to 223-5.

Ben Stokes’ sensational display of attacking batting left South Africa “shell-shocked” in the second Test with England, according to Dean Elgar. With the confidence of knowing that, there will surely come advancement in his keeping for this is a considerable cricketer who has worked hard and patiently to earn his stripes.