Ben Stokes' 'brutal' 258 against South Africa was unlike any innings Michael Atherton has ever seen.
Atherton has witnessed Brian Lara break the world record Test score twice, and remembers another great England all-rounder, Sir Ian Botham, at his big-hitting best, but says Stokes' knock on day two of the second Test - off just 198 balls - is up there with them.
"It was amazing, brutal," he said. "It was a complete slaughter of the South African bowlers. I have seen plenty of batsmen take apart bowling attacks, Lara for example, but he did it with precision, and an elegance if you like.
"This was just brutal hitting, an utter demolition of South Africa. There were some slogs over the leg side, but some pure stroke play as well. A combined purity, and hardness in the strokes.
"When he hit Morne Morkel straight for six, I had a flashback to Ian Botham hitting Craig McDermott first ball for six at Edgbaston in 1985; it was a similar sort of psychological hammer blow.
"But in terms of sustained hitting, the demolition of an entire attack, I haven't seen anything like it before.
"People will say that Hashim Amla had no answers today, but Brendon McCullum had no answer to Stokes at Lord's when he scored that quickest Test hundred there.
"South Africa were perhaps paying a little bit for the mistakes of yesterday though, they made some strategic errors then, but not many bowling attacks or captains would have had any answer for Stokes."
South Africa also struggled to find an answer for Jonny Bairstow, who put on a record 399 runs with Stokes for the sixth wicket, going through to an emotional maiden Test ton, before reaching 150 as England declared.
"Bairstow played well in the first Test in Durban," added Atherton. "There were signs there that he was starting to look an efficient Test match player and I actually thought he played well in the UAE too.
"But you could see from the reaction just what that hundred meant. It has been an up and down Test career for him, very much in and out of the side, and he won't have felt a settled part of it until now. His reaction told you a lot.
"Also, it's not easy to play sometimes when someone else is stealing the limelight like Stokes at the other end. It was a rapid hundred really from Bairstow, but in comparison it seemed a bit of a slow one.
"He started to trade blows with him in the afternoon and showed that he was no slouch either.
"England scored so quickly. I love milestones when they're in the process of trying to win a game and the way England played he was all about scoring runs quickly, giving themselves time to bowl South Africa out.
"The key now for South Africa is if they get past that follow-on, as it's highly likely this game will be drawn if they do, but those 400 runs or so are a long way away."
Watch highlights of day two at 6.30pm on Sky Sports 2 and then do not miss The Verdict - a Ben Stokes special - from 7.30pm on the same channel. Our live coverage of day three begins at 7.30am on Monday on Sky Sports 2.