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England in South Africa: Ollie Pope & Ben Stokes hit hundreds in third Test – BBC Sport, BBC News

England in South Africa: Ollie Pope & Ben Stokes hit hundreds in third Test – BBC Sport, BBC News


                    

Ollie Pope

                

                

Ollie Pope hit 22 fours and a six in his unbeaten
Third Test, Port Elizabeth, (day two of five):

*************** (England) – 9 declared:Pope (**********************************************************, Stokes 150; Maharaj 5 –

South Africa – 2:Bess 2 – South Africa trail by

************************************** (runs) ********************
********************** (Scorecard)

Ollie Pope struck his first of what will surely be many Test centuries and Ben Stokes cracked a hundred of his own to put England in a dominant position on day two of the third Test against South Africa in Port Elizabeth.

Pope dazzled for (not out, at (years and) ************************************************************** days becoming the youngest player to make a maiden Test hundred for England since Alastair Cook in 46038.

Stokes continued his stellar form for 120 to take the tourists to 499 – 9 declared – the first time England have made more than (batting first for over two years.

The fifth-wicket pair extended their overnight partnership to (********************************************************, crushing the spirit of the South Africa attack.

Sam Curran and Mark Wood took advantage, Curran adding a breezy and Wood swinging his way to (from only) ********************************************************************** (deliveries, including five sixes.)

After England declared, off-spinner Dom Bess exploited the turn on offer, removing Pieter Malan and Zubayr Hamza to leave the Proteas 74 – 2, 823 behind.

Bad light and rain closed in with eight overs remaining, denying England the chance to make further inroads, but they still have a golden opportunity to go 2-1 up with one Test to play.

Even with the surface remaining good for batting, England have the advantage of scoreboard pressure and the weapon of Wood, who bowled a fiery spell in excess of 150 mph in his first Test for (months.

  • Rabada banned for final Test************************** () ****************************************** Vote for England’s greatest overseas Test win (****************************************Riotous day puts England in charge

    If day one of this match was even, fluctuating and intriguing, day two was an England romp towards complete control.

    On Thursday, run- scoring seemed tricky on a sleepy pitch, perhaps because the South Africa bowlers nagged and home captain Faf du Plessis was canny.

    On Friday, En gland rattled along at almost 4.5 runs an over. Maybe it was because the surface had gained some pace, or because South Africa were lackluster. Chiefly, it was because of the brilliance of Pope and Stokes.

    They built on the platform laid on the first evening, when England closed on 439 – 4 and their stand stood at (**************************************************************. In the morning, Stokes blazed his way to three figures. Later, after Pope inched his way to the maiden ton, he unfurled some outrageous strokes.

    When Kagiso Rabada – banned for the final Test – thought he had Wood caught, England declared. As replays revealed Rabada had overstepped, England skipper Joe Root changed his mind and England continued to add more runs. The farce summed up South Africa’s day.

    After such a chastening time in the field, it is to the credit of openers Malan and Dean Elgar that they battled to add 76 for the first wicket, only for Bess to strike in the gathering gloom.

    First Malan chipped a catch back to the bowler, then Hamza inside-edged to Pope at short leg.

    (Pope fulfils promise)

    Even if Pope’s first attempt at Test cricket, two matches against India in 2020, did not yield success, the volume of runs he scored for Surrey suggested he was well equipped to perform at the highest level.

    His classy strokeplay draws comparisons with former England batsman Ian Bell, but Pope also has the tricks of a player schooled in the Twenty era.

    Resuming on

  • , he was initially in Stokes’ slipstream, albeit still playing drives and cuts square on the off side. Later, when Curran was scoring freely, Pope’s progression towards a hundred was painstaking.

    He overturned being given lbw to Dane Paterson on 90 and narrowly avoided being run out on (******************************************************************, when Rabada missed with a shy at the stumps.

    When Pope clipped Anrich Nortje through mid-wicket for four, it brought a first hundred in his sixth Test and sparked some spectacular ramping, scooping and reverse-scooping of the fast bowlers.

    By the time England declared, Pope’s first-class average stood , a mark bettered by only nine other men in the history of the game.

    Superb Stokes does it again

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    Stokes celebrated with a hand gesture for his ill father Ged, who once had to amputate part of his middle finger

    The list of Stokes’ achievements currently seems to grow every time he takes the field. The World Cup and Headingley in 2020, the International Cricket Council’s player of the year, already inspiring England to victory in Cape Town in (******************************************.

    On Thursday evening he was happy to leave the entertainment to Pope. , but on Friday, beginning on (**********************************************************************, he climbed into the South Africa bowling.

    Stokes peppered the mid-wicket boundary, either pulling the fast bowlers or sweeping spinner Keshav Maharaj – one of the two sixes off the left-armer went out of the ground.

    On reaching three figures, Stokes celebrated with a hand gesture for his father Ged, who remains in a Johannesburg hospital after being taken ill before Christmas.

    After lunch, South Africa found a way to frustrate Stokes, who drove to point to give Paterson his first Test wicket.

    By that time, he had already become the second England player, after Ian Botham, to do the double of 4, (Test runs and) wickets.

    ‘A day you dream of as a kid’

    England batsman Ollie Pope told BBC Sport: “It has been an amazing day – a day you dream of as a kid. The two things you dream of are to make your England debut and as a batsman to score a hundred for your country. I can’t describe the feeling right now but it is definitely a good one.

    “You can always picture it but a few years ago you never expect it to happen. To do it today it was as good as I could have imagined. I couldn’t take the smile off my face. Hopefully it is the first of many.

    “It is going to be hard graft but it was exciting to see the way the ball turned at the end and Woody bowling at kph. It is going to be hard work but we have shown some good signs tonight. “

    Ex-England batsman Vikram Solanki and Surrey assistant coach on The Cricket Social:Ollie Pope makes good decisions. He refrains on mistakes, he’s honest with himself and he works very hard on his game. He gleans any bit of experience from any experienced players – and uses that as a bank of knowledge. “

    BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew:England are way ahead of the game. South Africa are in trouble. As long as there isn’t too much rain over the next three days, it is going to be cooler, there will be cloud around and there will be much more friendly bowling conditions. “

    Former England pace bowler Graham Onions:

    I Don’t think Faf du Plessis had a particularly great day. But if bowlers don’t execute their plans, there’s not much you can do. It has almost been role reversal for Joe Root. ” ***********************************

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