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Stokes wonder catch 'no fluke', says Faf

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Ben Stokes celebrates his wonder catch at The Oval (Getty).
Ben Stokes celebrates his wonder catch at The Oval (Getty).

London - Jofra Archer threatened to steal the show, but at the end of the day it was man-of-the-match Ben Stokes who everyone was talking about after England's commanding 104-run win over South Africa at The Oval on Thursday. 

The England allrounder gave one of the most complete performances you could ever hope to see in ODI cricket. 

He top-scored with 89 (79) in an innings that England desperately needed having slipped to 111/3 and was then immense in the field for the hosts. 

His catch to dismiss JP Duminy at long-off was routine, but he followed that up with a rocket of a throw from the sweeper boundary to run out Dwaine Pretorius in a moment that all but ended South Africa's charge. 

WATCH: Ben Stokes wonder catch!

If the Proteas did have any hope left, it was completely extinguished when Stokes produced one of the great World Cup catches to get rid of Andile Phehlukwayo. 

The South African allrounder absolutely belted one of leg-spinner Adil Rashid's deliveries, and it looked almost certain to sail into the crowd over the deep mid-wicket fence. 

Stokes, though, had other ideas. 

England skipper Eoin Morgan said afterwards that Stokes had actually misjudged the catch, but it made for a spectacular finale as he flung his right arm over his own body, plucking the ball out of the air as the Oval crowd was left stunned. 

"The catch was brilliant ... as good as it gets," Du Plessis said, adding that Stokes was a "three-in-one cricketer". 

"I know from having played with him in teams before that he practices his fielding hard and he trains for those kinds of catches.

"There is no fluke when it comes to taking a catch like that."

Morgan went a step further, likening the catch to something AB de Villiers would produce. 

"We see him do stuff like that in training all the time and when he does you just shake your head at it because it doesn't happen every day," he said.

"I've only seen a catch like that from AB de Villiers before in an IPL game in Bangalore ... it's just unbelievable."

To top it all off, Stokes finished with figures of 2/12 from his 2.5 overs to wrap up the Proteas tail.

@LloydBurnard is in England covering the 2019 Cricket World Cup for Sport24 ... 

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