Ben Stokes bludgeoned one of the great attacking Test innings, the second fastest double century in Test history, on the second morning of the second Test in Cape Town. The statistics of the morning almost defied belief: England struck 196 in 25 overs without any semblance of losing a wicket and the giant in his own fairy tale with a bat the size of an oak tree had quite a story to tell.

Stokes became the first England No. 6 to make a double hundred in Tests, the 10th of all time, with his milestone taking only 163 deliveries with 26 fours and seven sixes. It was a stupendous achievement by a batsman who played with untrammelled power as blue skies shone over Table Mountain and 12,000 cheering England supporters revelled in every moment. It was a day to treasure.

Stokes' dream sequence produced some extraordinary statistics. Freckled of complexion, brawny of stroke, he hit 130 runs in the morning session, advancing from 74 to 204. Alongside him Jonny Bairstow was no slouch either, moving from 39 to 95, but he knew he was merely the supporting act. At lunch, their stand was worth 290.

Barely anything threatened Stokes' immense sense of feelgood. On 138, a six against the offspinner Dane Piedt barely cleared the outstretched hands of Stiaan van Zyl, who significantly was a yard off the boundary at long off. On 197, Chris Morris almost yorked him, perhaps to the bowler's surprise. And he pottered around for, oh, all of a few seconds before he pulled Morne Morkel through midwicket to reach 200.

When the ball comes onto the bat, and cricket is a simple game, Stokes' destructive power knows few bounds. This was only his third Test hundred, to follow equally exciting affairs against Australia - including Mitchell Johnson at his fiercest - in Perth and New Zealand at Lord's, but it was an innings that spoke volumes about the importance of the combative allrounder, able to balance a side and change a game in an instance with bat or ball.

It was an accommodating second-day surface - Cape Town at its most seductive for batsmen - and Stokes took the opportunity at face value. He is not the sort to see fears were none exist. South Africa lacked the waspish pace of Dale Steyn, or the Cape Town nous of Vernon Philander and those asked to fill the roles had no solution. It is only lunch on the second day and England, finding themselves beyond 500 with five wickets still intact, will bat until they feel South Africa's resolve is entirely undermined.

When Stokes is on song, nobody hits the ball harder. His mind was entirely uncluttered, his physique more demoralising by the minute. His backlift was huge and flowing. Shot selection became entirely a matter of where he will hit the ball because he rarely defended and left only deliveries that are virtually too wide to reach. He powered up and lets the shots flow.

England had stolen the game on the previous evening with Stokes and Bairstow taking 46 from the first seven overs with the second new ball. Now they did not just steal it, they ravaged it. They maintained that assault from the start, helped by some ragged South Africa bowling. Ten came from the first over, from Morkel; a hapless over of short and wide stuff from Morris was flayed to the boards three more times. There were pulls and drives galore. It looked a very simple game.

On this sort of pitch, Stokes fancied he could destroy Morris at will. Morris is a T20 specialist, so Stokes dismissed him from his presence as if playing T20. He looked predictable, a bowler operating at a convenient pace. Morkel produced the occasional good ball - but almost exclusively to Bairstow, one thick edge falling drainingly short of the slips. Kagiso Rabada's latest lesson in Test cricket was a painful one and his short balls lacked venom. By the time the offspinner, Piedt, was introduced, 12 overs into the day, Stokes' eye was set.

Stokes was entirely relaxed, the power of his strokeplay leaving South Africa's captain, Hashim Amla, lost for a response. Misfields crept in and South Africa's pitch map should have been entitled "desperation". The boundaries rained down, one of the best of them a pulled six against Rabada that was flew out of the ground in the general direction of the brewery. About the only ball he pushed at cautiously was the last ball of the session: playing for lunch, Ben Stokes style.

Courtesy Cricinfo