Ben Stokes said England have let South Africa off the hook in the fourth Test, with all of the home side’s three centurions having profited from dropped catches by Alastair Cook’s tourists. The problems of the first day, when Steven Cook and Hashim Amla were given lives on their way to three figures, continued into the second, with Quinton de Kock handed three reprieves in his unbeaten 129 that helped the home side post 475 and take control.
Stokes was first to put one down when he dropped De Kock at gully in the third over from James Anderson, before an edge on 80 off Chris Woakes flew between wicketkeeper Jonny Bairstow and Cook at first slip. De Kock, 10 runs later in his innings, would then see the latter grass a drive at short cover off the bowling of Moeen Ali.
“We’ll look back on this game and realise we let them off the hook massively,” Stokes said. “We were the ones that let them get to the big scores they reached. We have to take those chances because good players make you pay and they have done here.
I know from dropping catches you feel like the whole team and ground is looking at you. It’s case of putting them behind you and making sure you take the next one. There’s no grudges held. We have to make sure we have the mental capability to put them behind us.”
On England’s reply, 138 for two going into the third day, Stokes spoke of the relief of seeing Cook reaching the close unbeaten on 67, with the captain having been one of the batsmen to underwhelm during the series victory.
Stokes said: “Cookie has struggled this tour, so when he got that fifty it was like a hundred; we were all so pleased for him. It’s good to see him back in form. Hopefully he can go on to get a big one tomorrow.
“We got through a tough patch there as a batting unit. We spent a long time in the field and there are tired bodies and minds, so we did well to get off just two down and it’s something we can now build on tomorrow.”
While Stokes’s batting has hit a new level on the tour, his four for 86 in South Africa’s first innings has taken him to 11 wickets at an average of 28 , with the all-rounder believing this area of his game is developing . “The bowling is coming on really well but the body is not used waking up in the morning feeling older than Jimmy Anderson. I’m discovering how I want to bowl as a Test bowler, which is to be aggressive, take wickets and not bother too much about runs.”
