England vs South Africa result: Ben Stokes catch inspires hosts to victory in Cricket World Cup 2019 opener

England (311-8) beat South Africa (207) by 104 runs

The roar. You could have heard the roar on the other side of London. The deep, feral gasp of pure disbelief as Ben Stokes leapt clean off the turf, thrust a hand skywards, and with a conjuror’s flourish plucked it clean out of the air. Grown men stood with their hands on their heads, mouths agape. Stokes himself tried – and failed – to suppress a giggle. And on a grey day in south London, this was the moment when it felt like England’s World Cup truly caught fire.

The bare facts were that England won, and won well. But until Stokes went airborne to dismiss the dumbfounded Andile Phehlukwayo late in the South African innings, this had been a distinctly earthbound performance, a businesslike showing on a sticky pitch that looked like delivering two points and little more. Stokes’s divine intervention changed all that: a reminder that even on the biggest of stages, Eoin Morgan’s team have a seemingly limitless supply of miracles to call in.

Perhaps we have come to expect a little too much of this England side during their giddy joyride to the top of the world rankings. Certainly it is a measure of how richly they have spoiled us over the last few years that even a score of 311 felt sluggish and fitful, a half-open door through which a hard-wired English fatalism could slip in almost unnoticed.

In truth, it was a fine effort given the occasion and the conditions: the sort of mature, adaptable innings that would have been beyond them even a couple of years ago. And as it proved, it was more than enough. Marshalled by the thrilling Jofra Archer and the commanding Adil Rashid, England kept a tight rein on the South African chase, never allowing them to get ahead of the rate, and picking up key wickets at key moments.

Stokes’s 89 off 79 balls, along with his catch and an inspired run-out, unequivocally earned him the match award. It was his highest score for England in any form of the game since his altercation in Bristol almost two years ago, and even if it was an innings that got going without ever really getting away, it was in retrospect just what England needed: a responsible display of percentage violence that hints at a prosperous summer to come.

Having missed out four years ago, and been on the the receiving end of Carlos Brathwaite’s remarkable late assault in Kolkata in 2016, there still seems to be a yearning there. “We were thinking early doors that it was a tricky wicket,” he said afterwards. “Boundaries were hard to get away, but psychologically, getting over 300 was a big thing.”

Indeed, an ability to hit 300 even on unhelpful decks bodes well for England, particularly when you factor in their opposition. South Africa, an underrated threat in this tournament, were superb with the ball and in the field: their catching exemplary, their lengths disciplined. With the welcome mat laid out for England after the waving flags and choreographed pomp of the opening festivities, South Africa wasted no time in pulling it out from under their feet.

Faf du Plessis immediately sprang a surprise: opening with the leg-spin of Imran Tahir, who immediately cleaned up Jonny Bairstow first ball. But just as some of the more pessimistic England fans were thinking of calling the whole thing off, burning their new light-blue kits and starting to build towards 2023, Jason Roy and Joe Root launched a pleasant counter-attack, putting on a risk-free 106 in 18 overs to calm any early nerves. But within three balls, both were gone: Roy top-edging a pull, Root steering Kagiso Rabada into the gully.

Ben Stokes made an impact with both bat and ball (AP)

Yet as ever with this England side, the end of one onslaught merely brought the curtain up on the next. After tickling it around for a few overs, Morgan signalled his intent by launching Lungi Ngidi for consecutive sixes to opposite ends of the ground. Another partnership of 106, this time between Morgan and Stokes, was ended when Aiden Markram claimed a brilliant at long-off, just millimetres from the turf.

That, in many ways, was England’s innings in microcosm. The promised acceleration never really materialised: Ngidi’s brilliant repertoire of slower kickers and tantalising floaters proved tough to hit, and at one stage just 13 runs came off four overs. Jos Buttler came and went; Moeen Ali never really got going, and only the industry of Stokes, busily nudging twos and muscling the occasional ball through the infield, kept England going. Slowly England’s sights were lowered: from 350 to 330, and then finally to 311: a perfectly reasonable score, but in this sugar-rush age, a dangerously mortal one.

Now Archer stepped up. In an inspired first spell that touched 94mph, he forced Hashim Amla off the field by hitting him in the helmet with a sharp bouncer, before claiming the wickets of Markram and Du Plessis. By the end of a quiet Powerplay, South Africa were 44-2 and already behind the clock. And though Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen managed a partial reconstruction, Rashid and Moeen never allowed them too far from the leash.

Having reached a restrained 50, De Kock scampered across his stumps and whipped Liam Plunkett straight to long leg, where Root took a fine catch. JP Duminy barely imposed himself before plopping a catch straight to long-off. And by the time Phehlukwayo launched Rashid for a flat-batted swipe over mid-wicket, the run rate was already heading towards eight an over and rising.

Stokes’s scintillating catch ended any latent doubt. The rest of the South African innings folded in a hurry: Plunkett claiming his second wicket, Stokes the last two. And as England strode from the field, the strains of Three Lions pouring from the sound system, a sated home crowd rose to acclaim them: a public starkly aware that after years of hurt, here finally are a team who appear to be setting the standard.