Fired-up Stokes relishing another battle with Elgar

0 Ben Stokes celebrates after taking the wicket of Faf du Plessis. Ben Stokes can scarcely wait for the next round of his battle with South Africa opener Dean Elgar in this week’s Old Trafford Test.

Stokes admits the gutsy Elgar got the better of him with a doughty innings of 136 in England’s victory at The Oval.

It eventually fell to Moeen Ali to end Elgar’s 228-ball stay, the first victim in the off-spinner’s match-sealing hat-trick.

Stokes, however, has already noted “there’s always another opportunity” – having given Elgar plenty to think about in barnstorming second-innings spells which at one stage put him on a hat-trick too, with the wickets of Quinton de Kock and South Africa captain Faf du Plessis.

Try as he might, he could not knock over the stoic Elgar – despite peppering him with a series of fearsome short balls and bouncers which left him bruised and battered.

Elgar appeared to relish the challenge, and the wholehearted Stokes confirmed he most definitely did too.

“I got a bit of confidence when I saw the ball carrying through nicely to [wicketkeeper] Jonny [Bairstow], bowling the aggressive stuff at Dean Elgar, trying to get him on the back foot,” he said.

“I try to get in a battle with the batsman – which stirs me up.

“I just sort of make it ‘I want to get you out, I want to try to get the better of you’.

“Sometimes,itdoesn’tgothat way – but there’s always another opportunity if it doesn’t go well in a certain spell.”

England always had the upper hand, largely because of man-of-the-match Stokes’ first-innings century, and emerged with a 239-run win which means they will begin the fourth and final Test in Manchester on Friday with a 2-1 series lead.

As for Stokes’ titanic individual set-to, though, he concedes round one went to the opposition. “Huge credit has to go to Dean actually – it was a seriously gutsy hundred,” said Stokes. “He managed to get through everything.”