That’s it from us for now. The final T20 in this series is on Monday, then these teams will join Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Barbados in the Commonwealth Games. Till then!
Danni Wyatt is named player of the match for her fast scoring 39 and her excellent catch to dismiss Luus.
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It’s all happening at the post-match presentation: first Dominic Cork’s mic doesn’t work, then the wind blows down the sponsor board and startles SA captain Sune Luus. She says they need to focus on taking their catches, and that if she and Tryon had come off with the bat, they could have won that match.
Nat Sciver says similarly that the key for England was pulling back the match in the last ten overs with the ball. Would have been an interesting one for Sciver today as well, captaining her wife Katherine Brunt. She says that Brunt’s ability to make something out of nothing is what adds to the England team.
That was all down to the contrasting styles of the teams at the start of the innings. Bosch and Goodall started gradually, building to a good partnership but relatively sedately. Sophia Dunkley by contrast came out and ransacked the bowling, giving England a boost in run rate even though she was out early. From there it was much easier for England to stay ahead of the rate, and the middle order made contributions to keep that going, where South Africa’s middle instead got out as they tried to push the score along.
A much better showing for South Africa from the first match, but work still to do. The Commonwealth Games begin in six days.
England win with six balls to spare, by six wickets
The run chase always looked comfortably in hand, and England win the T20 component of their multiformat series, having already won the multiformat series overall.
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19th over: England 151-4 (Jones 20, Bouchier 9) Maia Bouchier gets a bat, and does the honours. A flat-bat whack over cover to start with, then a pick-up pull shot over fine leg to finish!
WICKET! Sciver run out Klaas 47, England 141-4
18th over: England 141-4 (Jones 19) Ratty running from England, twice in the over there should have been a dismissal but the throw misses. They’re just taking on everyone at the minute. Sciver follows up with a reverse nudge off the seamer Klaas, right off her toe for four. But from the last ball of the over, the luck turns. Jones hits back to Klaas, who tips the ball back onto the non-striker’s stumps, and Sciver can’t whip her bat around in time.
17th over: England 132-3 (Sciver 42, Jones 16) Working her position well, Jones moves to the off side to open up a big gap behind square leg, and gets low to pull Tryon for four. Sciver goes the other way, reversing through deep third. England need 17 from three overs.
16th over: England 120-3 (Sciver 35, Jones 11) Big full toss from Bosch, boshed away by Sciver. Behind square, four. Plenty of singles follow. Seven from the over, leaving 29 to get from the last four.
15th over: England 111-3 (Sciver 29, Jones 9) And that’s dropped again! England getting all the luck today. Ismail bowls a change of pace, Jones tries to force through the off side, gets a leading edge back over the bowler, who throws her hands up like she loves Detroit but can only fingertip it away. Ismail is very short, but still got hands to it. Could have held it. South Africa review the next ball after it hits Sciver on the ankle but it’s going down leg side.
14th over: England 109-3 (Sciver 27, Jones 8) Khaka comes back with a decent over, six from it, but England only need a run a ball from here.
13th over: England 103-3 (Sciver 25, Jones 4) That’s a drop off Sciver! She plays her ramp shot against Klaas, hits it very fine down the leg side, and Jafta is slow to pick up what is happening. Doesn’t get in the right position moving across, and in the end has to dive and throw out a glove. It clips that glove but doesn’t go in.
12th over: England 95-3 (Sciver 20, Jones 1) England keep finding the boundary, whether deliberately or not. A sliced drive from Sciver through backward point reaches the rope.
11th over: England 86-3 (Sciver 12, Jones 0) 63 from 54 required as Amy Jones walks to the middle. Wyatt’s 39 came from 24 balls, a great clip.
WICKET! Wyatt c Luus b Tryon 39, England 85-3
What a catch from Sune Luus! The ball before, Wyatt skips down and hits a golf shot out to deep extra cover, airborne but landing safely. Luus moves herself straighter in the deep, and the next shot goes to a similar spot. This time she has time to sprint 20 or 30 paces and dive lateral to the path of the ball to take it. Brilliance.
10th over: England 80-2 (Wyatt 35, Sciver 11) Bosch bowling round-arm seamers to Wyatt, who is nearly out edging back onto her stumps, but she gets some boot in the way. Gets her 2000th run in the format for England, joining Charlotte Edwards and Sarah Taylor.
69 required from 60 balls at drinks.
9th over: England 74-2 (Wyatt 31, Sciver 9) Delmi Tucker on to bowl some innocuous off-breaks, and she doesn’t find her length. Wyatt pounds one boundary square with her pull shot, then goes 180 degrees to send the next through point.
8th over: England 63-2 (Wyatt 22, Sciver 7) Perfect placement from Wyatt, steering Klaas between the fielders at backward point. Runs a very rare T20 three.
7th over: England 58-2 (Wyatt 18, Sciver 6) Good by Sciver to snatch back supremancy: Tryon gets through a very quiet five balls, but Sciver gets across and sweeps hard into the ground to score four from the last ball of the over.
6th over: England 51-2 (Wyatt 17, Sciver 1) End of the powerplay, England have lost a couple of wickets but they’re a third of the way to the target. Worth it.
WICKET! Smith lbw Khaka 10, England 50-2
A long period of consideration for the umpire, after Smith comes down the track and is hit in line, but eventually the finger is pointed. Smith reviews but DRS shows three red lights.
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5th over: England 50-1 (Wyatt 17, Smith 10) Dunkley is gone, so Wyatt takes up the attack. Has the spin of Tryon to look and, and bashes one down the ground before sweeping another fine. This is after Smith cleverly places a couple of twos in a row. We barely saw a two in the South Africa innings. What a contrast between that start and England’s work early. Fifty in five overs.
4th over: England 36-1 (Wyatt 8, Smith 5) Interesting. Bryony Smith has been promoted. Sciver was listed to come in at three. Smith starts off by cross-batting Ismail through cover for four. Then Wyatt plays the most stylish, efficient little back cut for another boundary.
WICKET! Dunkley c Ismail b Klaas 23, England 26-1
3rd over: England 26-1 (Wyatt 4) Now Dunkley is going. Masabata Klaas comes on early, bowls a nice length to get under, and Dunkley lifts it for six. Might have been a catch had Ismail been right on the rope rather than walking in at long on.
Second ball, another near chance, just over the bowler’s head and it goes for four.
Third ball, no chance, a shuffle forward and a drive powered through extra cover along the ground for four more.
Fourth ball, across the line and clattered into the boundary boards at deep midwicket! Low full toss, easy for Dunkley.
Fifth ball, tries a steer to deep third, finds the field.
Sixth ball, her first poor shot, gets it wide outside off stump but tries to fetch it to the leg side. It goes up high, and comes down into the hands of Ismail, a fair way off the rope at long on.
Klaas has one over, 1 for 18. Worth it for the wicket?
2nd over: England 8-0 (Dunkley 5, Wyatt 4) Ayabonga Khaka completes the new-ball pairing, with Dunkley shifting all around the crease trying to create a length to attack. Nothing doing, only three from the over.
1st over: England 5-0 (Dunkley 2, Wyatt 4) England to start off facing Shabnim Ismail, still the fastest in the world, who beats Dunkley’s edge early doors. Wyatt just hangs the bat out to collect a couple, rather than chasing the ball as is her wont.
England must chase 149 to win
Haphazard stuff in the end from South Africa, who lost 5 for 28 at the end. The big opening stand of 102 gave them a good base. It’s a very solid total, but also one that England in present mood would be confident of chasing.
Brunt’s 1 for 24 gives her 103 career wickets in the format. Ecclestone is again outstanding with 1 for 21.
20th over: South Africa 148-6 (Tucker 1, Jafta 1) Sinalo Jafta comes out for one ball, takes one single, and doesn’t attempt to return when there’s an overthrow. Sloppy stuff. Two wickets from the final over, and one perfect Wolvaardt straight drive for four.
WICKET! Wolvaardt b Brunt 21, South Africa 147-6
Brunt gets it that time! Becomes the prolific wicket-taker for England in T20 cricket. Wolvaardt aims across the line and misses. Straight to the stumps.
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WICKET! du Preez run out 9, South Africa 142-5
Wickets falling thick and fast. Mignon du Preez slams another drive, flat but straight at cover... where Sciver drops the catch. Brunt is denied another wicket. But Sciver has the presence of mind to hurl the ball back in, and there has been a mix-up with the running, du Preez having just set off without checking. She turns back and makes sure she’s the one to be run out by Jones.
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19th over: South Africa 142-4 (Wolvaardt 15, du Preez 9) Mignon du Preez is all class. Her first ball, she backs away from Ecclestone and scorches a shot through cover point. Later, Ecclestone follows her to the leg side, so she sweeps behind square for four more.
18th over: South Africa 130-4 (Wolvaardt 15) So, Glenn was annoyed when a ball clipped the pads of Luus and went to the boundary, and was given as five wides. But that gives her the extra delivery at Luus that brings the wicket. So the bowler ends the over happy.
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WICKET! Luus c Wyatt b Glenn 1, South Africa 130-4
Backing away, attempting to flay a shot over cover, Luus can only pop it up in the air to mid-off. Good catch diving forward.
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WICKET! Tryon st Jones b Glenn 1, South Africa 123-3
And Tryon leaves just as quickly. Has to go after everything, walks at Glenn but misses the shot, comfortable stumping.
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17th over: South Africa 123-2 (Wolvaardt 14, Tryon 1) SA’s biggest hitter, Chloe Tryon, to the crease.
WICKET! Bosch lbw Ecclestone 61 (57 balls)
Ecclestone with two of the final four overs. And she shows why. Yorks Wolvaardt, keeping her to a single, then spears one from around the wicket the evades the sweep of Bosch, just hitting her in front. South Africa review, but DRS says it is umpires call as to whether the ball hit outside the line of the stumps. A good innings from Bosch, though she went a little too slowly.
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16th over: South Africa 119-1 (Bosch 61, Wolvaardt 11) Right on arrival, Laura Wolvaardt is hitting boundaries. A perfectly timed flick off the pads that almost takes out Umpire Redfern as square leg, then backing away to scorch an attempted yorker back past the bowler.
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15th over: South Africa 108-1 (Bosch 60, Wolvaardt 1) Goodness me! Katherine Brunt nearly takes the most spectacular catch of her career. Wolvaardt is promoted in the batting order and gets off strike. Bosch slams a big drive down to long on. Brunt catches it on the run just inside the rope, sees that she is about to run over, lobs the ball up, leaves the field, comes back inside and dives, but can’t quite reach her own relay throw. Of course she’s furious with herself, despite the degree of difficulty.
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WICKET! Goodall c Sciver b Capsey 42
One ball after getting nailed through backward point for four with a reverse sweep, Alice Capsey gets her first T20 wicket for England after a big leading edge goes high towards point when Goodall tries a flat-bat slog.
Half century! Bosch 50 from 49 balls
14th over: South Africa 98-0 (Bosch 55, Goodall 38) Time to go, says Bosch, and steps outside her off stump to sweep Sarah Glenn very fine for four. Advances at her next ball and thuds it over midwicket for another boundary! Hits the gap between the boundary riders, well placed. Then a well-run brace for Goodall, the over ends up returning a dozen runs.
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13th over: South Africa 86-0 (Bosch 46, Goodall 35) Brunt returns, outside the leg stump to start, Bosch inside-edges her glance for four. Brunt follows up with a slower one in the blockhole, no run. Some good running from Bosch turns one into two out to Capsey at deep mid. Then a sharp single leaves Goodall sucking in air before punting an airborne shot into the leg side. Another single means nine from the over.
12th over: South Africa 77-0 (Bosch 38, Goodall 34) Well bowled by Sarah Glenn to follow up, keeping the scoring to four singles. Bosch tries to charge the last ball looking for a big hit and is nearly yorked. This would be a great opening stand in a 50-over match, but it’s slow with only eight overs to go.
11th over: South Africa 73-0 (Bosch 36, Goodall 32) Ecclestone, ever the trump card, comes on to slow the scoring again. Goodall smokes a couple to deep midwicket on a misfield, but Ecclestone is so good at bowling to her field. Even when players nail a shot, there is someone protecting that boundary. Five from the over. Ten wickets in hand, and SA’s best players yet to come.
10th over: South Africa 68-0 (Bosch 35, Goodall 28) Suddenly Goodall is catching up to Bosch. A hit-me short ball from Sciver is met with Goodall’s first absolutely middled shot of the day, a pull through midwicket. Then Sciver strays leg side and Goodall miscues a leg glance, chipping it aerially but with enough contact to beat Glenn’s chase into the ropes. A dozen from the over.
9th over: South Africa 56-0 (Bosch 32, Goodall 19) Davies with seam, and Goodall now pulls out the scoop shot, walking across her stumps to open up fine leg. Doesn’t get it cleanly but gets enough for four. Bosch follows up by swiping a full ball from outside her leg stump to the deep backward square boundary. Ten from the over.
8th over: South Africa 46-0 (Bosch 27, Goodall 14) There it is! Bryony Smith on, bowling off spin, and the left-handed Goodall smokes it on the reverse sweep for four. She tries again to end the over, hitting this one in the air, but it lands just short of the onrushing Danni Wyatt in the deep.
7th over: South Africa 38-0 (Bosch 25, Goodall 8) Sarah Glenn, the leg-spinner, comes on now that more fielders can drop back. Just the four singles from the over, but it does see Goodall pull out a reverse sweep and play it well, so that’s a sign of confidence emerging.
6th over: South Africa 34-0 (Bosch 23, Goodall 6) Better against Sciver, both batters hitting straight for ones and twos, then Bosch reads a slower ball to end the over, waits for it, and lofts it over mid-off for four. End of the fielding restrictions, but South Africa need to boost the scoring rate.
5th over: South Africa 26-0 (Bosch 18, Goodall 3) Sophie Ecclestone on early, left-arm orthodox, and she does exactly what South Africa can’t afford: ties them down for one run from the over. Bosch looks very unsure of how to approach England’s premier bowler, and her only shot is to the leg side with the sweepers back, not to the off side where the field is up.
4th over: South Africa 25-0 (Bosch 17, Goodall 3) A streaky shot from Goodall, thick outside edge that flies behind point for a run. That gets Bosch onto strike, who skips down at Freya Davies and plonks her out through midwicket for four.
3rd over: South Africa 18-0 (Bosch 12, Goodall 2) Bosch is finding her range. Last ball of the Sciver over, Goodall smashed it into the non-striker’s stumps. Second ball of this over, Bosch smokes it slightly to the on side of straight, past the stumps for four. Follows up by missing a ball down the leg side, but gets her back foot out so that it clips her heel and goes for four leg byes. Another straight hit from Bosch is well stopped by Ecclestone, who has been placed very straight and turns a boundary into one run. Still, a productive ten-run over for South Africa.
2nd over: South Africa 8-0 (Bosch 7, Goodall 1) Sciver to open the bowling from the other end at Worcester. She does this routinely for England, as an all-rounder who can swing the ball. She can’t swing it this time, bowling Bosch two full tosses, and neither is put away. Third time around, Sciver drags short and Bosch does club it through cover for four.
1st over: South Africa 3-0 (Bosch 2, Goodall 1) Brunt takes the new ball, after 4 for 15 in the first T20 on Thursday. She gets the new ball to swerve in the air, taking outside edges from both batters but both fall safely.
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If you’re wondering about England’s captaincy, Heather Knight has an unspecified slight injury, so is sitting out as a precaution and letting Nat Sciver lead. Issy Wong has been rested after bowling like the wind at times in this series, and Freya Davies comes in.
Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt have been the only two players standing up for South Africa at times on this tour, and now Kapp has had to go home after a family member was badly injured in an accident. This leaves Wolvaardt, aged 23, to carry the side. She did so in the first T20, making 55 runs while nine of her ten teammates made single figures.
As it happens, we had a long interview with her this week on The Final Word podcast about taking responsibility, the likelihood of captaining in the future, and what pitfalls might await South African women’s cricket.
You can listen to that here.
England win the toss and will bowl
South Africa
Anneke Bosch
Lara Goodall
Sune Luus *
Laura Wolvaardt
Mignon du Preez
Chloe Tryon
Delmi Tucker
Sinalo Jafta +
Shabnim Ismail
Masabata Klaas
Ayabonga Khaka
England
Sophia Dunkley
Danielle Wyatt
Natalie Sciver *
Amy Jones +
Maia Bouchier
Alice Capsey
Bryony Smith
Katherine Brunt
Sophie Ecclestone
Sarah Glenn
Freya Davies
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Preamble
Hello world. Today is the second-last match of a tour in which, to be frank, the English have been thumping the South Africans the length and breadth of the country. England had far the better of the Test match that was only a draw due to rain. They swept the tree 50-over matches, then won the first T20 at Chelmsford with ease. There has been plenty of change in the ranks, with new players brought in and thriving. Meanwhile it has been a diffident showing by the South Africans, who blazed through the 50-over World Cup in March but stumbled against England in the semis. Since then they’ve lost players and lost focus. Two more chances on this tour to get something back.
