England cruise on Taylor and Stokes hundreds

Centuries from James Taylor and Ben Stokes helped England recover from a shaky start to post an imposing 470 for 5 on the first day of their opening warm-up match in South Africa. Despite the failure of their newest opening partnership, England's day could not have gone much better, with Nick Compton also contributing a half-century from No,3.

The star of the show, however, with 158 from 131 balls, was Stokes, who has been recovering from an injury to his collarbone joint sustained in the field during the Sharjah Test against Pakistan. In addition to his forceful batting, he has provided encouragement over his availability as an allrounder for the first Test at Durban by bowling in the nets in Potchefstroom.

A domineering display with the bat suggested he has lost none of his edge in the meantime, even if the latter part of his onslaught came against a selection of part-time bowlers. He struck 23 fours and cleared the boundary ropes five times at Senwes Park, doing his best to hit the "Hit Me" target painted on the roof of one of the outbuildings, and helped England past 400 at a scoring rate of almost 5.5 runs per over before retiring.

Taylor also retired his innings after making a more sedate century, allowing England's lower-middle order valuable time in the middle. Moeen Ali reached the close unbeaten on a breezy 33 from 30 balls with Chris Woakes alongside him on 10, while Jonny Bairstow, who has been confirmed by the head coach, Trevor Bayliss, as England's wicketkeeper for Durban, reached a fluent 35 from 46 balls, including five fours. He was eventually bowled by the pick of the South African bowlers, Thandolwethu Mnyaka, who returned the respectable figures of 3 for 66 in 18 overs.

The first of Mnyaka's wickets had come from the first ball of the day's third over, when he jagged one back from round the wicket to trap Alastair Cook lbw for 2, and 6 for 1 quickly became 10 for 2 when Alex Hales, another man whose starting place for Durban has already been confirmed, left one from Junior Dala that came back a fraction to hit the top of off stump.

England's recovery came first through Compton, who shared stands of 46 with Joe Root and 99 with Taylor. Installed as the likely successor to Ian Bell at No. 3, Compton left judiciously on his way to a 107-ball half-century - though he was given a life when dropped in the slips on 49 - and picked up nine fours before being pinned lbw for 58 to give Mnyaka his second wicket of the day.

Root made a typically punchy start, scoring all of his runs in boundaries during an innings of 28 off 26, but was caught behind off former South Africa Under-19 quick Andile Phehlukwayo while trying to force another back-foot drive. While Compton accumulated steadily, Taylor continued with the busy approach and, after England had gone to lunch on 90 for 3, both moved past fifty in the afternoon session.

Mnyaka's strike left England 155 for 4 but that merely brought Stokes to the crease to begin his destructive intervention. Taylor recorded England's first century on tour, from 137 balls with 13 fours, a six and an all-run five (thanks to an overthrow), and Stokes followed him to three figures a few overs later, despite Taylor having a 52-run head start.

England, who will mix and match their players in the course of the three-day fixture, were set to give opportunities to Woakes and Mark Footitt with the ball, as they look to settle on a third seamer for the Boxing Day Test in Durban. Gary Ballance and James Anderson were also named as part of a 13-man side and will play some part in the later stages of the match.