It is not often the case that a man who hits a majestic maiden 150 not out during a Test match is not the talk amongst the media, supporters, players and coaching staff; but unfortunately for Jonny Bairstow, Ben Stokes’ outstanding masterclass of 258 from 198 balls overshadowed such an innings.
Ben Stokes smashes a maiden Test Double Century
There have always been questions regarding Ben Stokes’ batting in the Test match arena but 2015 has been the year where he had started to answer his doubters’ questions. If there were still some who were undecided, his innings at Newlands, Cape Town would have well and truly dispelled those disbelievers.
Stokes and Bairstow started Day Two in Cape Town with England’s first innings nicely poised at 317-5 with the former on 74 not out from Day One and the latter settling in on 39 not out. At this point Stokes 74 not out had come from 93 deliveries. At the start of the day, Stokes went absolutely berserk at the crease, destroying South Africa’s pace attack as between them, they put on over 100 runs in just 13 overs of play during the morning session, and eventually propelled England to 517-5 at lunch.
The double-century came from just 163 balls meaning that on Day Two resuming on 74 from 93, Stokes hit 126 runs in just 73 deliveries to become the second quickest double-centurion in Test match history, behind Nathan Astle’s 153 ball double-century against England in 2002.
English fans adore a real down-to-earth character with the passion and fire that Stokes possesses and is surely now etching his way into the same categories as the great Sir Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff, both huge characters in the game of cricket whose charm in front of the media and fire on the pitch have made them English legends of the all-round criteria.
Stokes told the BBC, “I haven’t really done much for a while so it was nice to kick on and make a big score.”
“I probably won’t play like this ever again in my life, but I’ve done it once so at least I can say that.”
After his innings at Newlands, Stokes added: “I normally say ‘crikey’ when I get to 30, to be honest, so I kept on looking at the scoreboard.”
Some of the records that Ben Stokes broke during his marvellous innings, courtesy of the BBC:
Stokes in numbers – the records he broke:
- Fastest Test double century by an England batsman
- Highest score by an England batsman at Newlands, beating Jack Hobbs’ 187 in 1910
- Most sixes by an England batsman (11), surpassing Wally Hammond in 1933
- Most runs scored in a day of Test cricket at Newlands, beating the 450 made by Australia at Wanderers in 1921
- Highest score by a number six, bettering the 250 of Doug Walters for Australia against New Zealand in 1977
- Stokes and Bairstow set the highest partnership for a sixth wicket in Test cricket
- Stokes and Bairstow set the fastest 300 partnership, beating India’s Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid
England eventually reached 629-6 before captain Alastair Cook decided to declare and have a dart at South Africa for an hour or so before the tea interval.
South Africa’s innings got off to the worst possible start as Stiaan van Zyl was foolishly run out trying to sneak a quick single which his opening partner Dean Elgar duly refused to take.
Stranded half-way down the wicket, van Zyl’s diving attempt at returning to his crease was beaten by a solid throw from Nick Compton at short-cover and Bairstow’s quick glove work removed the bails.
Hashim Amla then came to the crease and rebuilt with Elgar to 85-2 before Stokes lived up to his all-round tag by removing Elgar for 44, caught by Compton. With AB De Villiers, a fantastic batsman at the crease with captain Amla, both players will be looking to stay at the crease and frustrate England with limited experience in the lower middle order to come.
