Sunday 28 May 2017 11:52, UK
Ben Stokes is 'controlling the red mist' and maturing as a person and a cricketer, says Sir Ian Botham.
All-rounder Stokes struck a match-winning 101 as England secured a tense two-run win over South Africa in the second ODI at the Ageas Bowl on Saturday, earning an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series in the process.
The 25-year-old struck 11 fours and three sixes from 79 balls after shaking off a knee injury scare in the series opener, but only bowled three overs as the tourists just failed to chase down their target.
Stokes made South Africa pay for dropping him off the first and second ball he faced and Botham told Sky Sports that the Proteas only had themselves to blame.
"Hashim Amla barely got a hand on one of the easiest catches you'll ever get at slip," said the former England all-rounder.
"If you let him [Stokes] off the hook, he makes you pay. He was magnificent. He's so powerful down the ground and he drags the ball well; he can drive it too. You can't set fields to straight hits like his. I think he likes batting against South Africa.
"He has matured as person and cricketer. People were saying to me 'do you think he should have gone for that long to the IPL?'
"The answer is 'yes' because he's come back a better cricketer. He's probably thinking a lot clearer and knows what he wants to do; he doesn't get flustered anymore.
"The red mist comes down occasionally but he's controlling that. I think he's come back from India a better cricketer and I think people should look at the bigger picture and not just say 'he's got a knee injury - he got that in the IPL' when in fact, he's had that a while."
South Africa shelled six catches in total and were left to rue their errors after failing to score seven runs off the final over, bowled by Mark Wood.
"I've got to be honest," said Botham, "I thought their fielding at Headingley was poor and it was more of the same today; you just don't expect to see that from South Africa.
"England have outfielded South Africa and you wouldn't have necessarily thought that at the start of the series; I thought they might have been on a level playing field, but England are much, much better at the moment.
"Then South Africa wanted 10 runs off 10 balls at the end of their innings - you should walk that.
"David Miller played very well but couldn't get back on strike. He struck the ball really, really well and almost got South Africa home."
Fast bowler Wood held his nerve to restrict the tourists to 328-5, answering some of the questions about their potency of their death bowling in the process.
"Death bowling is such a hard job on pitches like this - this was another great pitch at the Ageas Bowl with plenty of runs scored," said Botham.
"England will get there. I think they might want to think about bowling Plunkett at the death - but then again, he was taking wickets at vital times.
"I thought Mark Wood did well; he bowled one bad ball in his last couple of overs and it got clubbed for six. But aside from that, he bowled well and with aggression and defended seven off the last over; you don't win too many of those."
Watch the third and final ODI between England and South Africa live on Sky Sports 2 this Monday from 10.30am.
