Nat Sciver-Brunt lands first blow as England seal series opener
Punchy partnership with Jones breaks back of stiff 143-run chase at Buffalo Park
Firdose Moonda24-Nov-2024England 143 for 6 (Sciver-Brunt 59, Jones 31, Marx 3-19, de Klerk 2-20) beat South Africa 142 for 5 (de Klerk 29*, Dean 2-21) by four wicketsNat Sciver-Brunt brought up her 15th T20I half-century – the most by any non-opening batter in the women’s game – and ensured England took the opening honours on their tour of South Africa. She eclipsed an excellent allround effort by Nadine de Klerk, who scored a 19-ball 29 to push South Africa over 140 and took 2 for 20 to keep South Africa in it, but their bowling inexperience showed.In an XI without Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, who are both being rested for this series, South Africa’s discipline was under the microscope. Sune Luus opened the bowling for the first time in a T20I, and was one of three bowlers to concede at more than six runs an over. South Africa may also be disappointed with their batting effort. While six of their top seven got starts, no-one kicked on and they had no half-century stands.England, despite a sometimes messy effort in the field, put it together where it mattered most. Sciver-Brunt and Amy Jones put on 50 for the fifth wicket, which was the key to their successful chase.Wolvaardt starts well but England get the openers early South Africa’s opening pair of Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits picked up from where they left off at the T20 World Cup, with a typically industrious start. Wolvaardt found the boundary off the second ball when Sciver-Brunt strayed down leg to be clipped behind square, where a misfield gave her four. She went on to cream Lauren Bell through the covers and smear Sophie Ecclestone over midwicket for two more boundaries in successive overs while Tazmin Brits only faced five balls in the first three overs. Wolvaardt looked dangerous until she advanced on Charlie Dean, missed a straight one and was bowled. Brits started to find her touch and took on Ecclestone with a confident sweep but her ambition got the better of her. Like Wolvaardt, Brits danced down the track and was beaten for pace, which gave Jones a simple stumping.England’s fielding: The ridiculous and the sublime Perhaps it was not quite that extreme but England’s full range was on display in the mid-section of South Africa’s innings. There were shades of their drops against West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-final when an Anneke Bosch chance slipped through Sciver-Brunt’s fingers at deep backward square. Bosch, on 13, swung at a Sarah Glenn delivery and hit it with the wind, which may have been what foxed Sciver-Brunt despite being in a good position to take the catch. That only cost England five runs before Bosch was bowled by Freya Kemp. In the next over, Ecclestone timed her movements well to take the catch that dismissed Sune Luus for a duck. Luus, who only has one 50 from her last 15 T20I innings, hit Dean in the air to mid-off, where Ecclestone had to move left and jump to take a sharp catch, and did so with ease.De Klerk’s cameo South Africa’s hundred came up in the 16th over, when the 36-run stand between Annerie Dercksen and Nondumiso Shangase was broken, which gave de Klerk four overs to show off her finishing skills. Her first boundary was a strong sweep off Bell but she was kept quiet until the last ball of the penultimate over when she hit Ecclestone’s final ball to fine leg. De Klerk took control in the last over when she hit Bell for two more boundaries in an 18-run over, to finish unbeaten on 29 off 16 balls. Her 42-run sixth-wicket partnership with Dercksen was South Africa’s highest of the match and pushed them over 140.Sophie Ecclestone takes the plaudits after catching Sune Luus•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesHlubi’s horror start It is only Ayanda Hlubi’s third T20I match so it’s difficult to be too harsh on her but she seemed to struggle with her run-up and rhythm immediately. Her first ball was short and down leg and Maia Bouchier helped it on its way for four. Then, she overstepped. Bouchier popped the free hit up to mid-off (who dropped it, though it didn’t matter), but two balls later, Hlubi overstepped again. And then again. Bouchier could not take advantage of any of the free hits and the over finally ended after nine deliveries with England 11 without loss. Hlubi’s second over was more disciplined but her third cost 22 runs, including another no-ball that was hit for four by Jones, who launched the resultant free hit for the innings’ only six.How low can you go? Buffalo Park is not known for its bounce and tends to get slower and lower as matches go on. That’s exactly what happened through England’s innings as Eliz-Mari Marx, on comeback, took full advantage. When Bouchier premeditated a switch-hit of sorts over backward point, in the fifth over, and missed, Marx bowled her but her came when she was brought back on in the 11th over. Marx stunned England captain Heather Knight, who stayed back in her crease to a full delivery, and inside-edged onto her stumps. England were 65 for 4 in the 11th over, and needed 78 runs inside 10 overs to win.No getting past Nat Sciver-Brunt Some of the others may have looked rusty but Sciver-Brunt was in fine touch as early as the second ball she faced. She punched it off the back foot through the covers to get going. Her ease against South Africa’s spinners saw her score 33 runs off the 31 balls she faced against them and her dominant on-side play meant South Africa could not plug the gaps quickly enough. Sciver-Brunt scored 48 of her 59 runs in the on-side, including five of her seven boundaries. She scored 20 runs off 15 balls in the last five overs, to keep England in touch with the required run-rate and clear the path for a win.