Postpublished at 11:26 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
Michael Vaughan
Ex-England captain on BBC Test Match Special
"I've only seen Garry Sobers on YouTube clips - but Stokes' swing of the bat looks very similar."
Summary
Stokes 258 off 198 balls
Second fastest Test double century
Bairstow 150* - maiden Test century
Highest Test sixth-wicket stand (399)
Amla 64*, De Villiers 25*
England lead 1-0 in four-match series
Postpublished at 11:26 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
Eng 528-5 (Morkel 29-5-113-1)published at 115 overs
South Africa's bowlers are going to need counselling after this. Post-Stokes syndrome.
Eng 526-5 (Stokes 215 off 173)published at 114.3 overs
Meatier than a butcher's fridge! Ben Stokes stands tall and marmalises Morne Morkel over long-on for a huge six. He follows it up with a tickle for four round the corner.
Power and precision. And now a 300-run partnership.
Image source, Getty ImagesStokes reminds me of...published at 11:21 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
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Leigh Woodrow: #bbccricket Stokes reminds me of . . . "We're gonna need a bigger . . . " fill applicable pun here.
Image source, Rex FeaturesEng 516-5 (run-rate 4.52)published at 114 overs
Stiaan van Zyl comes on for a bowl. He of the 70mph dobbers. Good luck, Stiaan!
To be fair, it's a good over. Two byes and a single. Calm before the next storm perhaps?
Storm Stokes.
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 11:19 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
Email tms@bbc.co.uk
Dick in Penang: And once South Africa A do get one of these two out, Moeen Ali is next up! But I'm looking for a declaration when we get to 700, of which Stokes will have half. Probably not long after tea. Phew...
get involved Stokes reminds me of...published at 11:16 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
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Eng 513-5 (Stokes 204, Bairstow 95)published at 113 overs
South Africa captain Hashim Amla asks the umpires to check the shape of the ball. A good workman never blames his tools, Hashim!
Morne Morkel begins with a maiden to Jonny Bairstow.
Back under waypublished at 11:12
Let's do it all again, eh?
Image source, Getty ImagesStokes reminds me of...published at 11:10 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
#bbccricket
High praise, indeed...
'A megastar of cricket'published at 11:04 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
The stats which matterpublished at 10:57
It's fair to say there was steam rising from the computer of TMS stats man Andrew Samson during that session...
- Most runs in a pre-lunch Test session by a single batsman (130 by Stokes)
- England's highest Test partnership for the sixth-wicket
- The partnership has the highest run rate of any in Tests over 250 runs
- First England century at Newlands since 1965
- The highest score for an England batsman at Newlands, beating Jack Hobbs' 187 in 1910
- The highest score by an England number six. The previous best was Graeme Hick's 178, external against India in Mumbai in 1986.
- The last England player to score 100 runs in a session before lunch was Ian Bell, against Bangladesh at Chester-le-Street in 2005
get involved Get Involvedpublished at 10:52 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
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Ian Bradley: All credit to Bairstow this morning, quietly moving towards his own century but perfect foil for Stokes.
World's best cricket groundspublished at 10:51
Image source, Getty ImagesLet me take this opportunity to point you in the direction of our photo gallery of the world's best cricket grounds, as chosen by you good people in yesterday's live text.
Have a gander here.
From the press boxpublished at 10:49
Poor Chris Morrispublished at 10:46
This is Ben Stokes' run chart against Chris Morris. The stats are staggering.
Runs: 77. Balls: 53. Fours: 16
Image source, optaget involved Get Involvedpublished at 10:41 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
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Image source, Getty ImagesHow's stat?!published at 10:38 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
Andrew Samson
BBC Test Match Special statistician"England scored 196 in 25 overs in that session. Ben Stokes scored 130 in that, the most by a batsman in a pre-lunch session in a Test.
"The most scored in any session is 173 by Denis Compton against Pakistan at Trent Bridge in 1954."
Postpublished at 10:38
If you watched that unfold, perhaps listened to it, or followed the live text updates... give yourself a moment, sit back and smile.
It's a day to be utterly proud of the England cricket team.
And one man in particular: Ben Stokes.
A national sporting icon has been born.
Stokes reminds me of...published at 10:36 Greenwich Mean Time 3 January 2016
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