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London - Ben Stokes scored 89 off 79 balls and took two wickets in England's Cricket World Cup victory over South Africa on Thursday, but it was his stunning catch that had everyone talking.
While he received the man-of-the-match award for his all round efforts, when he was put in front of the media after the game he was asked about the catch.
Stokes admitted he was in the wrong position as Andile Phehlukwayo swept Adil Rashid to the mid-wicket boundary.
Frantically back-pedalling, Stokes threw out a despairing arm and launched himself backwards, crashing to earth with the ball embedded in his right hand.
He stood up with his hands on hips, almost in disbelieve, and saluted the crowd while Rashid sprinted to mob his team-mate.
"To be honest, I had a little bit of a panic, I was a little bit further in than I should have been," said Stokes.
"The crowd’s reaction behind me was pretty awesome, I just tried to take that in as much as I could.
"The crowd were phenomenal which is the best thing about having a home World Cup."
England went on to claim a 104-run victory to make a perfect start to their World Cup campaign and they next face Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Monday.
