England v South Africa: Ben Stokes says second-Test win sets 'benchmark'

England set a benchmark in their win over South Africa in the second Test, according to captain BenStokes.

England defeated Pakistan in three days at Old Trafford to level the series and will play a decider at the Oval.

"It was an amazing team performance, and I was the man of the match," said the man of the match.

We bounced back from the disappointment at Lord's very well.

England earned their fifth win in six Tests by bowling South Africa out for 179 in the final day of the match.

They were defeated in the first Test after bowling out for 165 and 149.

We forgot about that performance. This game was the benchmark of the standards we set.

At the beginning of the summer, England earned four victories in a row in swashbuckling style, but this was their most complete performance since the captain took over.

On a damp, cloudy first day after the Proteas won the toss, and again on a dry Saturday with the ball reverse- swinging, they dismissed South Africa cheaply.

"What we did incredibly well with the bat was assess it was a wickets that we couldn't go out in the way that we spoke about, which I think is real progress for this side."

At every opportunity, we stepped up. I was very happy with the performance.

After overcoming some South Africa resistance, England was able to win on the third evening.

James Anderson and Ollie Robinson took seven runs in a 30 ball game.

Anderson said that every time he plays cricket it could be his last.

I could retire tomorrow and be happy, but I am not.

South Africa's decision to include two spinners was justified by the way the pitch behaved, but they paid the price for batting in difficult conditions and being dismissed for 151 in the first day.

Dean said that they didn't bat well. This is Test cricket and we have to deal with it.

The pitch did get worse but our batting let us down.

The prospect of a series decider is exciting, with the third Test beginning on 8 September.

Both teams have something to play for. South Africa will throw everything at us, but we will take a lot of confidence from this game.