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Cape Town - Dom Sibley said he enjoyed "one of the best days" of his life on Monday as he nudged his way to a maiden Test century in the shadow of an astonishing innings by Ben Stokes which put England in a strong position to win the second Test and square the series against South Africa.
Set a world record 438 to win, South Africa were 126 for two at the close on the fourth day at Newlands.
Stokes effectively put the game beyond South Africa's reach by slamming 72 off 47 balls.
Sibley, who made 133 not out, said he had a sleepless night on Sunday thinking of the 15 runs he needed to advance from his overnight 85, but that batting with Stokes took the pressure off him.
"It made it really easy for me to go at my tempo," said Sibley. "When he was whacking it everywhere and I was nurdling it around and playing and missing it was nice that at the other end he was doing the scoring."
England's batting on Monday was in dramatic contrast to their effort on Sunday when they ground their way to 218 for four off 79 overs.
Sparked by Stokes, they added another 157 runs in the morning session before declaring five overs after lunch on 391 for eight.
Sibley said he was in awe of the way Stokes and Jos Buttler, who hit two sixes in making 23 runs off 18 balls, were able to play aggressive pull shots off fast bowlers like Anrich Nortje.
"I'm usually just ducking - and Stokesy was reverse-sweeping fast bowlers. They are incredible talents. It was great fun to watch them from the other end."
