Tea England 308 for 5 (Stokes 98*, Foakes 61*, Nortje 3-41) lead South Africa 151 by 157 runs
For all that he has overseen a radical transformation in his team’s success and self-belief, this summer has been a curious one for Ben Stokes, the Test-match batter.
There had been a series of starts – particularly against New Zealand, but a succession of short-lived slogs too – as if his desire to communicate a message of overt positivity to his team had run in direct opposition to the oddly accumulative methods that have tended to produce his best Test innings.
But on the second day at Emirates Old Trafford, Stokes finally had the stage upon which to craft a finished article; and by tea, he was delivering with an outstanding innings of 98 not out from 155 balls – two shy of his 12th Test century – and his first since the tour of the West Indies in March.
With a surfeit of early caution giving way to gentle acceleration interspersed with a smattering of trademark aggression, he and Ben Foakes rode out the remnants of a stellar onslaught from Anrich Nortje to mould England’s match position with an unbeaten sixth-wicket stand of 161.
Full report to follow…
This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.