"I found another aspect to my game, trying to dig in and change to whatever the game is offering to me at the time. I thought time in the middle was crucial and that the runs would come."
Sunday 2 September 2018 18:43, UK
Ben Stokes told Sky Sports Cricket he was "buzzing" after helping England to a Test series win over India and "finding another aspect" to his batting.
Stokes took two wickets on Sunday afternoon as England defeated the tourists by 60 runs at The Ageas Bowl to claim an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series and bounce back from their innings thrashing at Trent Bridge last week.
The 27-year-old battled his way to 30 from 110 deliveries in his team's second innings in Southampton as they set India 245 to win - Virat Kohli's men subsequently skittled for 184.
"I am buzzing," Stokes told Ian Ward immediately after England's win. "We came here with a bit of pressure after the way we performed at Trent Bridge.
"Credit to everyone, especially in the third innings where I thought we could easily have crumbled. We showed real fight and put all the demons out of our mind to put a score on the board.
"I found another aspect to my game, trying to dig in and change to whatever the game is offering to me at the time. I thought time in the middle was crucial and that the runs would come."
"I can’t believe what’s happening, I’m just taking it all in. It’s pretty special to contribute to a win but the main thing is that we have won the series. I am just trying to play naturally, the way I have done for Surrey."
England seamer Stuart Broad dismissed KL Rahul in the morning session to take his tally of wickets in the series to 14 and move onto 431 Test scalps in total, the same number as Richard Hadlee.
"It's been a fantastic series and hard work to play in emotionally," he said. "Each day you are not sure which way the Test match is going to go.
"It's a great feeling walking off with a series win, particularly against the No 1 side in the world.
"It has been intense. We have been helped as seamers and swing bowlers by the pitches, certainly in the first three games.
"No one has scored 500 so our workloads have been manageable but it can still be tiring when you are trucking in for consecutive games.
"We are proud as a bowling unit as we have adapted to every pitch we have had pretty well. But huge credit to both sides for the way they have played. They have showed amazing character."
James Anderson will head to The Oval Test match on Friday looking for five scalps to overtake Glenn McGrath as the leading wicket-taker among seamers in Test cricket - his dismissals of Shikhar Dhawan and Cheteshwar Pujara on Sunday taking him to 559.
The 36-year-old, though, is yet to oust Kohli in the series, with man-of-the-match Moeen Ali, the man to do that on day four when the India skipper gloved the spinner to short leg on 58.
"Not great for me - I haven't got him out!" said Anderson when asked how his battle with Kohli has gone. "He is their best player and one of, if not the, best player in the world at the moment.
"It's a really exciting challenge for us seam bowlers and we are trying to use home conditions as best we can. If there is a bit of seam or swing movement, you feel you're in the game, but he's just not nicked them and we have also put him down a few times, which is frustrating."
Watch day one of the fifth Test between England and India, live from 10am on Friday on Sky Sports Cricket (channel 404) and Main Event (channel 401).
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