Benjamin Andrew Stokes hits a first as he smashed an unbeaten 103 run to bring up his first century in red ball cricket as Test captain, and wicketkeeper batter Ben Foakes was also not much behind as he made a hammering 113.
England took a first innings lead of 264 runs against South Africa in the ongoing second Test at Manchester, Stokes and Foakes made a 173 runs partnership for the fourth wicket. As Anrich Nortje got the better off Jonny Bairstow and Zak Crawley, it seemed the Proteas are back in control.
Although, the Englishman had an upper hand over South African on Day 1 as well, the South Africans could not manage more than 151 on the board.
On the second day, it was just England written all over, although, apart from Stokes and Foakes only Bairstow managed an impressive score of 49, the other batters failed to deliver a big one.
However, with contributing little-little, England declared their score at 415/9. The Proteas are currently at 23/0 in 9 overs, the third day is crucial for both sides, South Africa can turn the game around in their favour or England will just clean sweep the match completely.
SA are 1-0 up in the series and after this match, the third one will be played at The Oval in London from 8 – 12 September.
