• Second Test,day two: England 629-6dec; South Africa 141-2
• Ben Stokes (258) and Jonny Bairstow (150*) compile record-breaking standSometimes it pays just to fasten the seat belt, sit back and delight in the ride. And what a ride it has been. Going in to bat on a hat-trick on Saturday, and Ben Stokes produced an innings that will for ever sit in the memory of those fortunate enough to gain been at Newlands,and many who were not, so that by the time he was run out in slightly comical fashion an hour after lunch on Sunday, and after AB de Villiers had dropped a vertical mishit at mid-on,he had made 258, the highest score by an England batsman against South Africa.
Yet that in itself comes nowhere near telling a narrative of a remarkable innings that went from strength to strength, and the stroke play fitting increasingly outrageous and carefree until the bowling looked utterly bereft under the onslaught. It was quite possibly the most brutally destructive innings that any England batsman has ever played,the records tumbling by the minute, it seemed.
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Source: theguardian.com