“It meant extra emotion than I often present when I obtained to one hundred however I simply tried to carry on going and wasn’t actually considering of any landmarks as I went alongside”.
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England threw the gauntlet back at the hosts declaring the first innings for 629 runs at the loss of six wickets, and the Proteas in reply, finished the second day at 141 runs losing two wickets.
The all-rounder continued to plunder boundaries all around the ground, passing 250, however he admitted afterwards that at that point the declaration “didn’t really matter” because he thought he’d be getting out soon, due to “trying to hit every ball for six” at that point.
“It was a very intense session and a half…we were kind of shellshocked by the way they were going”, the South Africa opener said.
– Fastest 150 by an Englishman in Tests. The left-handed allrounder finally fell to a weird dismissal when AB de Villiers dropped a regulation catch off him, but then managed to run out Stokes at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit. His partnership of 399 with Stokes is the highest ever sixth-wicket stand in Test match cricket.
“I probably won’t play like this ever again in my life whilst playing cricket, but I’ve done it once so at least I can say that”, said Stokes.
De Villiers became the third South African batsman to pass 8,000 runs while Amla, who last made a significant contribution with 208 runs against the West Indies in December 2014, moved past 7,000 runs.
Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) off 182 balls: The New Zealand captain reached 200 with his 11th six from the 186th delivery he faced and was out two balls later for 202 on Day 3 of the third Test against Pakistan at Sharjah.
By lunch Stokes had 204 runs and England, who had been far from secure in this match when they started the day on 317 for five, had raced to 513 for five after plundering an astonishing 196 runs in the morning session.
“I think we’re massive favourites, we’re so many runs ahead”, he said.
He clocked up 30 fours and 11 sixes in the Cape Town test. He quickly went past his previous highest Test score, 120 against Australia at Perth two seasons ago.
After England crossed 600, for the first time since 2011, a message came out to Stokes and Jonny Bairstow from the dugout about the team plans.
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Despite the beguiling brutality displayed by Stokes, one of the most memorable moments of the day came when the Yorkshire wicketkeeper reached three figures.
