England's Ben Stokes celebrates reaching his century during day two of the third cricket test between South Africa and England in Port Elizabeth
Ben Stokes on Friday joined some of the game's finest all-rounders with his impressive ninth Test century in the third game of the series against South Africa in Port Elizabeth. He is the seventh all-rounder in Test cricket to join the club of 4000-plus Test runs and 100-plus wickets after Garfield Sobers, Ian Botham, Kapil Dev, Carl Hooper, Jacques Kallis and Daniel Vettori. Stokes now has 4014 runs and 142 wickets in 62 Tests.
Ben Stokes hammered a South Africa team already hit by a ban for its top bowler as England took control on a potentially decisive day of the test series on Friday.
Stokes was 108 not out at lunch on the second day of the third test in Port Elizabeth and England surged to 335-4 in its first innings. The tourists, with star allrounder Stokes leading the charge once again, were building a commanding position in the match and series, which was level at 1-1.
South Africa was slipping behind and burdened by the additional blow of fast bowler Kagiso Rabada being banned for the series-deciding fourth and final test in Johannesburg starting next week.
Rabada's ban was announced on Friday morning, a punishment for his provocative celebration in the face of England captain Joe Root on the first day of the test at St. George's Park.
With that news hanging over them, the South Africans appeared completely deflated on the field and Stokes and Ollie Pope took full advantage on a pitch that's pretty tough for bowlers anyway. The four-test series was finely balanced but the first session of the second day at St. George's Park and the off-field news regarding Rabada meant it appeared to be swinging heavily in England's favor.
Stokes and Pope took their careful 76-run partnership overnight to an unbroken and flourishing stand of 187 by lunch on a day when the start of play was delayed by nearly an hour because of rain.
The outlook for South Africa was particularly gloomy.
Stokes was starting to break free. The left-hander, voted the world player of the year this week, played cautiously at the end of the first day to consolidate England's position but was in complete attack mode on day two.
He lashed 11 fours and two sixes in all as he charged to a ninth test century. Three of those hundreds have come in the last five months and Stokes continued to punish South Africa on this tour. He blitzed 72 off 47 balls, took a record-equaling five catches in an innings, and collected the match-winning wickets in England's series-tying victory in the second test in Cape Town.
Stokes also had strong support from Pope in Port Elizabeth. He was 75 not out for his career-best score in tests.
England, 224-4 overnight, added 111 runs in the session and was rampant.
South Africa's only glimpse of hope came when Pope was given out lbw to seemingly hand Dane Paterson his first test wicket on his debut. The decision was reviewed by Pope and overturned and South African heads dropped further.
(With AP inputs)
