ENG vs SA 2022: "Captain leading from the front"- Twitter erupts after Ben Stokes smashes his first-ever century as England Test captain

England skipper Ben Stokes led from the front against South Africa on Friday (August 28). He made light work of the South African bowlers and scored his maiden century as captain when his team needed him the most.

The southpaw scored 103 runs off 163 balls, which included three sixes and six boundaries. He stepped in when England struggled at 147/5 and helped steer his team to stretch their lead past 250 runs in their first innings against the Proteas in the second Test.

Stokes also shared a crucial 173-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Ben Foakes (113). The pair unsettled South Africa's bowling attack to help England take a commanding position in the Manchester Test.

The development comes days after England succumbed to a humiliating loss by an innings and 12 runs at Lord’s to go 0-1 down in the series.

Fans were quick to congratulate Ben Stokes as he led his team by example. Here are some reactions:

Ben Stokes and Co. aim to level the Test series 1-1

England finally declared their first innings at 415/9 after they extended their lead to 264 runs against the visitors.

Anrich Nortje was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets in his bag. Kagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj added a couple of wickets each, while Simon Harmer and Lungi Ngidi settled for one wicket each.

The hosts will look to level in the three-match series.

South Africa, on the other hand, will be under pressure to deliver with three days left for the match.

Last week, Stokes made it clear that England will not abandon their so-called ‘Bazball’ style of play despite a beating in the first Test.

“Absolutely not. You know, I look at captains before me and they were always going to get criticized at times about the way that they wanted to play, and that’s just part and parcel of the job.

He added:

“We know well that when we perform to the capabilities that we’re capable of, then we can go out and put on an incredible performance like everybody’s seen in the four games before. This is absolutely not a wake-up call or anything like that. It was just unfortunate we’re unable to execute in the way that we want to play this week.”