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As it happenedended
5 years ago

Cricket World Cup 2019, England vs South Africa: Ben Stokes inspires victory in opening match

Re-live the action from the opening match of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup

Jack Watson
Thursday 30 May 2019 12:04 EDT
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Cricket World Cup: Five batsmen to watch

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England kicked off their home World Cup with a crushing 104-run victory over South Africa, Ben Stokes capping an inspirational all-round performance with a one-handed catch that will go down among the greatest in tournament history.

Stokes top-scored with 89 as the hosts posted 311 for eight at a sold out Oval and finished the match with two wickets in as many balls but his best moment came while he was stationed at deep midwicket - a quite astonishing leaping effort with his outstretched right hand seeing off Andile Phehlukwayo.

On any other day the spotlight might have shone on Jofra Archer, who underlined his fast-growing superstar status with three for 27 and a bouncer that forced Hashim Amla to retreat to the pavilion for concussion tests, but Stokes' flash of inspiration lit a fuse under this competition. Re-live the action in the blog below.

5 years ago

39 South Africa 199/8 Rabada 7 Ngidi 6

Ngidi comes out to bat and kicks things off with a well-struck six.

Jack Watson30 May 2019 17:30
5 years ago

Wicket!

Ben Stokes gets himself a wicket to add to his successful day.

Liam Plunkett is underneath Rabada's strike.

Jack Watson30 May 2019 17:35
5 years ago

England win by 104 runs

A fine performance by England in the field gets their 2019 Cricket World Cup campaign off to a winning start.

Jack Watson30 May 2019 17:37
5 years ago

Player ratings and stats from England's win

If you're name is Ben Stokes and you can't wait to see how you scored, click here.

Jack Watson30 May 2019 17:57
5 years ago

Report

Jonathan Liew was at The Oval for us, you can see what he made of things here.

Jack Watson30 May 2019 18:06

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