England lift after Stokes escapes ban
England paceman follows up his spectacular batting cameo with explosive spell
BEN STOKES has avoided a ban for swearing at a fan during the fourth Test against South Africa after accepting a charge for uttering an ‘audible obscenity’.
The England all-rounder got into a foul-mouthed exchange with a supporter who had run 50 yards to abuse him and reference the singer Ed Sheeran following his dismissal on the first day. TV cameras picked up Stokes saying: ‘Come and say it to me outside the ground you f****** four-eyed c***.’
The 28-year-old received a demerit point and fine before helping put England in control at the Wanderers yesterday. At the close on day three South Africa had collapsed to 88 for six in reply to England’s firstinnings total of 400.
The tourists had feared Stokes would be hit with a more serious charge but
an apology, released on Friday, helped his cause. ‘I wish to apologise for my language that was heard on the live broadcast today after my dismissal,’ said Stokes who was fined 15 per cent of his match fee — around £2,250. ‘I should not have reacted in that way.
‘As I was leaving the playing area, I was subjected to repeated abuse from the crowd. I admit my reaction was unprofessional, and I sincerely apologise for the language I used.’
The vice-captain’s response was particularly embarrassing as Specsavers are the main sponsor of Test match cricket in England.
Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, said: ‘In addition to this incident, members of our support staff were subjected to personal abuse. We have requested to the venue to ensure security and stewarding.’ However, that request has been rejected.
THE moment this fourth Test and the series was lost for South Africa came midway through the second day when Mark Wood channelled his inner AB de Villiers during a remarkable l ast- wicket st and with Stuart Broad.
At 318 for nine in their first innings, England would already have been relatively happy with their position in this match. Forty minutes later they had added 82 more runs to reach 400.
But this was about more than just runs; England’s 10th-wicket pair had broken the hosts’ spirit.
From this point, with Wood and Broad’s blitzkrieg putting their team in complete control, there was no way back for a humiliated South Africa.
They will no doubt have nightmares about Wood, who followed up his batting heroics with a highquality exhibition of fast bowling and a haul of three for 21. By the close, South Africa had stumbled to 88 for six, still 312 runs in arrears, as England zeroed in on a win that now appears inevitable.
It is undeniable that South Africa have been awful since they won the opening match at Centurion.
Yet that should take nothing away from England’s achievement of registering only their second away Test series victory in four years.
Winning away from home is not easy, especially when things go against you as t hey have for Joe Root’s squad on this tour.
That they came into this final Test 2-1 up following back-to-back wins at Cape Town and Port Elizabeth was no mean feat.
From the sickness bug that struck the touring party at Centurion to the injuries that forced Rory Burns,
James Anderson and Jack Leach to return home prematurely, England have had t o deal with more setbacks on this trip than any team could plan for.
Add in the elbow injury that has seen Jofra Archer sidelined since the first Test and this achievement becomes even more impressive.
Nobody will cherish it more than Wood, who in just his second Test in 11 months followed his quick-fire 35 from 39 balls with three wickets during South Africa’s reply.
The fact the delivery that claimed his first was clocked at 94.4 miles per hour proves that he still has the pace that makes him such an X-factor bowler despite a career ravaged by injuries.
Pieter Malan had no chance as the ball from Wood exploded off a length, caught the edge and flew into the gloves of Jos Buttler.
By the time Wood grabbed his second wicket, the recalled Temba Bavuma steering to Ben Stokes at second slip, the hosts were 74 for five and in deep trouble.
Things got worse still for South Africa when Wood, with the final ball of the day, bamboozled nightwatchman Anrich Nortje and Joe Denly took a flying catch at gully to cement England’s position of strength.
In between, Sam Curran removed Rassie van der Dussen, Stokes was gifted a wicket by Dean Elgar’s tame chip to backward point and Chris Woakes trapped Proteas captain Faf Du Plessis lbw.
By the end of the day, the only thing to stop England’s momentum were two pitch invaders who briefly halted play.
The second day began, after a 45minute rain delay, with England on 192 for four and the game evenly poised.
Yet South Africa had a complete shocker in t he first hour to set the tone for what was to come.
Root a n d Ol l i e Pope had carefully constructed a fifth-wicket stand of 35 the previous evening.
It took them less than 60 minutes to turn the partnership into three figures, the pair both registering half-centuries.
Pope in particular was impressive, the 22-year-old following up his maiden Test century in Port Elizabeth with his third 50-plus score in as many matches. The acclaimed film The Two Popes may be up for Oscars in Hollywood next month but for England, when he is batting like this, one Pope is all they need to provide fans with box-office entertainment. It was a shame then that the Surrey prodigy failed to kick on, falling to the first ball after drinks when he edged on to his s t u mps from a ball from Nortje. It started a collapse of three for 11 that saw England slip to 269 for seven, as Root and Curran both edged the impressive Nortje behind in successive balls to leave the South African on a hat-trick.
Woakes saw that off and alongside Buttler guided England to 300 without further loss at lunch.
Vernon Philander broke through with the new ball early in the afternoon when Buttler skied him to cover. Buttler’s place is under pressure following a poor series where he is averaging 17.83 with the bat. This innings of 20 from 43 balls was not what the wicketkeeper needed.
I n contrast, Woakes pl ayed confidently for his 32. But he was undone by another good ball from Nortje, who claimed his maiden five-wicket haul in Tests when he extracted the edge and Du Plessis took a diving catch at second slip.
At that stage, England’s hopes of reaching 400 for the first time in successive Test innings since 2013 looked slim.
However, nobody was expecting the batting pyrotechnics from Wood and Broad. Every one of the seven sixes smashed into the stands must have felt like a punch to the gut for a broken South Africa.
The sight of Du Plessis placing eight players on the boundary told you everything you needed to know about his team.
By the time Broad holed out to Dane Paterson, the damage had been done. Unfortunately for Du Plessis and his rabble, England went on to inflict even more throughout the remainder of the day.