BEN STOKES was left in a state of panic in the moments prior to his sensational one-handed catch, as England kicked off their home World Cup with a crushing 104-run victory over South Africa.

Stokes top-scored with 89 as the hosts posted 311 for eight at a sold out Oval and finished the match with two wickets in as many balls but his best moment came while he was stationed at deep midwicket — a quite astonishing leaping effort with his outstretched right hand seeing off Andile Phehlukwayo.

“I had a panic on for the catch, I was further in then I should have been,” said Stokes. “Luckily it stuck, I didn’t know how to react as it was a regulation catch if I was in the right position!

“The messages from the batsmen early on were that it was tricky and try to get to 300. They were hard to get away, boundaries were hard to come by but we did well to get 300+.

“The atmosphere was fantastic, thanks to everyone for coming out and we hope it continues.”

At halfway there was a flicker of nervous tension about England’s total, despite fifties from Stokes, Jason Roy, Joe Root and Eoin Morgan. In the end it proved enough to win at a canter.

Stokes added that the team’s fielding allowed England to “perform as we did” and that there were a few butterflies before the match began.

“I’m sure there was few nerves kicking around — I’ve not felt like that in a long time when we arrived at the ground. To come away with a win is a fantastic start.

“We’ve played amazing cricket over the last four years but when you get to these type of moments, it’s that pressure, I guess.

“To perform as we did — I think that’s the best we’ve fielded in about two or three years. The amount of runs we saved was absolutely brilliant.”

On any other day the spotlight might have shone on Jofra Archer, who underlined his fast-growing superstar status with three for 27 and a bouncer that forced Hashim Amla to retreat to the pavilion for concussion tests, but Stokes’ flash of inspiration lit a fuse under this competition.

On his performance, and the occasion, Archer said: “Honestly it was a great atmosphere. Everyone exploded when my name was announced and it’s a great feeling.

“It give me that little bit extra. My bouncer is a wicket-taking ball and a dot ball so I’d be stupid not to use it.”

Captain Morgan praised the aforementioned duo, though he did admit that the side’s batting total was wasn’t their “plan A.”

He said: “We were very good today, we were good as a batting unit even though we couldn’t score a considerable total which was our plan A. But we felt that the score we had on the board was above average.

“Ben Stokes has had a full day, his catch was absolutely outstanding. He is a matchwinner and lifts everybody. The bowling unit got off to a great start and learned from the way South Africa executed what they did.

“Jofra Archer bowled fast and accurate on a slow pitch, it was outstanding from a young guy. He’s taking everything in his stride, it’s very exciting.

“We won’t have days like this every time.”

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was honest when he admitted his team were outclassed on the day, singling out Archer’s performance.

“We were outplayed in all three departments,” he said. “Jofra Archer took two wickets up front and Hashim Amla [was injured] as well, so it was basically three down. I thought 300 was par, we were bowling cutters, but there were some really good batting performances from England.

“We wanted to target the openers with leg spin, they are good players of pace so throw something different at them. We will try some more things.

“I thought we bowled great, England batted very well but we kept picking up wickets. Hashim Amla is OK now, he was all over the place when he came off the field but hopefully he is OK for the next game.”