South Africa v England
The wise heads tell you: “You can’t know how things will work out till both sides have batted.” Then with a grin they add: “And even then you’ve no idea.”
That’s the joy of multi-day cricket. There are so many ups and downs; even draws are permitted, and they can bring their own glory.
Morning
The first session belonged to the Proteas. England had an early success when a Lauren Bell lifter found the outside edge of Anneke Bosch’s bat. (6)
Lauren Filer, offering different challenges, brought real pace and lift. She tonked Annerie Dercksen on the helmet, fortunately without lasting damage.
Heather Knight gave Sophie Ecclestone an early over to see if she could extract the turn Nonkuluieko Mlaba had found. She bowled her usual maiden, but Knight turned to her support troops.
This gave Ryana Macdonald-Gay her chance, performing the duties of the missing Kate Cross: bowl line and length; make batters work for their living. She started with a maiden to Laura Wolvaardt. An opening spell of 5-2-15-0 was highly encouraging.
But wickets remained elusive. Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen built a 50 partnership, then, just after they brought up the 100, Dercksen top-edged another lifter from Filer to long-leg. Bell dropped it as she tumbled.
Charlie Dean was allowed a turn before lunch, but it was Filer who made the breakthrough; or rather Ecclestone, who took a remarkable reflex slip catch to snare Dercksen (41).
Lunch 113-2
RMG (another maiden) and Filer started the second act.
Did Laura Wolvaardt ever ask herself during her innings whether they were scoring fast enough? Was she making sure SA didn’t lose, or looking for a home win?
Little point in asking, but a big point about DRS. Ecclestone thudded her on a pad, the finger went up, and the world was told in gesture that the ball had taken the edge of the bat first. But CSA prioritises white-ball cricket, so their captain had to depart; she was one of the two vital wickets. She had made 65, but her run-rate of 44 hardly spoke of aggression. How would the match referee react to that little drama? Enter Marizanne Kapp.
She and Sune Luus built carefully, waiting fior the loose ball, which came a shade too often for Knight’s liking. Dean in particular couldn’t maintain her normal accuracy. To me, shifting to around the wicket was an unwelcome defensive move.
The total reached 200 in the 63rd. The Proteas still didn’t look as though they were intent on victory; were the batters conscious of a fallible tail?
Just before tea the light-meter was brought out, to add worries about the lack of time to bring a result.
Tea: 225-3
Knight started with RMG, and she produced the goods, bowling the biggest obstacle to progress, Kapp, to gain her first test wicket. (12-3-36-1)
The weather was turning; when lightning flashed, the umpires took the players off. Up to there Luus and Kapp had built steadily, both reaching 50 to cause English concern.
The 40-minute break took valuable time off the match, but it had a familar effect: the moment they returned, RMG had her second wicket. She deceived Nadine de Klerk (0), and Jones accepted the snick. After a 99-run partnership that was two wickets for nought.
Knight promptly took the new ball.
Filer had her second as Luus (56) became another batter to find an edge. England were chipping away Test Match – Second Day- but a bit late in the day? We must remember that an innings can last less than one session.
Yes! The closer dusk came, the more the Proteas’ batting crumbled. Chloe Tryon was furious with herself for lobbing a catch to Beaumont, then, even more dramatically, Bell picked up two in two; the one that got Jafta was a jaffa. Mlaba followed her straight back. Bell 4-47.
Nat Sciver-Brunt was brought on to sort out the tail. She had Ayanda Hlubi lbw, and the game had swung convulsively. SA finished 114 short; a collapse on the grand scale: 237-3 – 281 all out.
Contrary to most expectations, the English spinners were restricted to a single wicket; the quicks dominated with nine! But the bowlers had helped each other. The batters didn’t enjoy Filer; Bell may well have picked up wickets on the rebound. Likewise Ecclestone denied them runs, so risks had to be taken elsewhere. An analysis of 25-9-40-1 speaks volumes. A feature that did surprise me: Filer bowled no fewer than 17 overs at high pace and was the most economical of the quicks (17-1-53-2) – testimony to her fitness. The bonus was RMG’s performance, 15-4-50-2.
The Third Innings
No question of all-out attack. There were English batters anxious to answer doubts. The openers (Bouchier not under pressure!) played out three maidens. Then Hlubi had Bouchier caught behind for a 19-ball duck. What bathos! 126 and 0 in two days.
It took England eight overs to hit a first four. Knight took advantage of Kapp’s return to the pavilion to enjoy Dercksen’s first and sixth deliveries.
It turned out that 14 overs were available. In that time the England pair crawled their way to 31-1.
Close of Play
England 395-9 (decl) and 31-1 South Africa 281
Teams:
South Africa
Laura Wolvaardt (captain), Anneke Bosch, Annerie Dercksen, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinal Jafta (w-k), Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkuluieko Mlaba, Ayanda Hlubi
England
Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (captain), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt- Hodge, Amy Jones (w-k), Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Ryana Macdonald-Gay, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
