England vs South Africa Tests 2015-16: England Win 2-1 — Stokes 258 Cape Town (Fastest 250 in Tests), Stokes-Bairstow 399 World Record, Broad 6/17 Johannesburg, Bavuma First Black African SA Century

England won the four-match Test series against South Africa in December 2015-January 2016 by 2-1. Ben Stokes was Player of the Series with 411 runs and 12 wickets. 1st Test Kingsmead, Durban (Dec 26-30): England won by 241 runs — ENG 303 & 326; SA 214 & 174. 2nd Test Newlands, Cape Town (Jan 2-6): Draw — ENG 629/6d & 159/6; SA 627/7d. Stokes scored 258 — the fastest 250 in Test cricket history and the second-fastest double century in Tests overall, including 30 fours and 11 sixes. Bairstow scored 150* and partnered Stokes in a 399-run 6th-wicket stand — a world record for that wicket in Tests. Temba Bavuma scored 102* — the first Test century by a Black African player for South Africa, 127 years into the country's Test cricket history. Stokes won Player of the Match. Hashim Amla resigned as SA captain at the end of this Test; AB de Villiers took over for Tests 3-4. 3rd Test The Wanderers, Johannesburg (Jan 14-16): England won by 7 wickets — SA 313 & 83; ENG 323 & 74/3. Stuart Broad took 6/17 in SA's 2nd innings of 83, England winning in 3 days. Broad won Player of the Match. 4th Test SuperSport Park, Centurion (Jan 22-26): SA won by 280 runs — SA 475 & 248/5d; ENG 342 & 101. Kagiso Rabada took 7/112 in England's 1st innings. SA won the 4th Test to finish 2-1. Player of the Series: Ben Stokes. Kagiso Rabada led all series bowlers with 22 wickets; Broad led England with 18. Alastair Cook captained England; Hashim Amla captained SA in Tests 1-2, AB de Villiers in Tests 3-4.

Stokes 258 at Cape Town: The Fastest 250 in Test History

Ben Stokes' 258 at Newlands, Cape Town in the 2nd Test was the defining batting performance of the series and one of the most aggressive large innings in Test cricket history. He struck the fastest 250 ever recorded in Test cricket and the second-fastest double century in Tests at the time, hitting 30 fours and 11 sixes in an innings of ferocious clean hitting that took the game away from South Africa. Stokes came to the crease with England in need of substance and transformed the innings into a declaration platform. He was the first England batsman batting at No. 6 to score a Test double century. His 258 anchored England's 629/6 declared — a total answered by South Africa's own 627/7d in a drawn high-scoring classic, with both sides exceeding 600.

Stokes-Bairstow 399: A World Record 6th-Wicket Stand

Jonny Bairstow's 150 not out at Cape Town — his maiden Test century — combined with Stokes' 258 in a 399-run partnership for the 6th wicket that set a world record for that wicket in Test cricket, surpassing Kane Williamson and BJ Watling's 365 set just months earlier. Bairstow's innings, built with composure as Stokes blazed around him, confirmed England had found a wicketkeeper of genuine batting quality beyond his glove work. The partnership also set the record as the fastest 300-run stand in Test history. Stokes and Bairstow combined gave England's batting order a depth that had been missing: a No. 5 and No. 6 capable of turning a competitive position into an impregnable declaration.

Broad 6/17 at Johannesburg: SA Bowled Out for 83 in 3 Days

Stuart Broad's 6/17 in South Africa's 2nd innings at The Wanderers, Johannesburg — routing SA for 83 all out in one of the most destructive bowling spells of the decade — was the performance that secured England's 2-1 series win. SA, who had managed 313 in their 1st innings, collapsed entirely in their 2nd as Broad found movement and length on the Johannesburg surface to dismiss batsmen throughout the order. England, needing just 74 to win, strolled to victory in 3 days. Broad's 6/17 remains one of the best single-innings bowling performances of his career and earned him Player of the Match. His 18 series wickets made him England's leading bowler, with Stokes (12 wickets) providing the seam-and-swing complement.

Amla's Resignation, Rabada's Rise, and SA's 4th Test Fightback

Hashim Amla's resignation as South Africa Test captain immediately after the drawn Cape Town Test — citing batting-form pressure and the weight of the captaincy during a difficult series — handed the role to AB de Villiers from the 3rd Test. Amla remained as a player and finished the series as its highest run-scorer (470 runs despite stepping down). Despite his resignation SA's pace attack remained dangerous. Kagiso Rabada's 22-wicket series haul — the most by any bowler in the series — included 7/112 in England's 1st innings at Centurion in the 4th Test, powering SA to a 280-run win that reduced England's series margin to 2-1. At 20 years old, Rabada announced himself as one of world cricket's premier pace bowlers: his 22 wickets at a high strike rate confirmed the template for a decade of South African bowling to come.