Port Elizabeth (Day 2 of 5): England 499-9 dec (O Pope 135 no, B Stokes 120; K Maharaj 5-180) lead South Africa 60-2 (D Bess 2-12) by 439 runs. A Stokes hundred is hardly headline news at the moment, such is his rich vein of form and his determination to exploit it. The gist of the announcement is that the 22-year-old Pope is ready for the Test arena and he clearly enjoys the special buzz of Test cricket. A total of 72 runs came from 13 overs in the first hour; Stokes passed 4,000 runs in Test cricket; in the meantime Pope was in impressive cruise control. After lunch Stokes sliced a drive to give Dane Paterson his first Test wicket and the innings stalled for a while.

Source: The Irish Times January 17, 2020 18:45 UTC