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Sciver-Brunt takes England home against SA

cricket07 October 2024 18:51| © MWP
By:Patrick Compton
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England’s premier batter, Nat Sciver-Brunt, took her country home by seven wickets in their key women’s ICC T20 World Cup match against South Africa at Sharjah on Monday night.

England, who overtook South Africa’s total of 124 for six with four balls to spare, have now won both their matches in group B and are in pole position to qualify for the semifinals. South Africa, with one win, still have work to do to join them.

South Africa compiled a useful total in their innings after Laura Wolvaardt had won the toss and chosen to bat first. The pitch was slow, as was the outfield, and initially the South Africans strangled the England reply and looked good to defend their total.

England only scored their first run off the eighth ball and opener Maia Bouchier struggled to get the bowling away, crawling to eight off 20 balls before falling leg before to the ever-impressive Marizanne Kapp.

England needed an injection of aggression and Alice Capsey provided it, racing to 19 off 16 balls in a restorative partnership with opener Danni Wyatt-Hodge. Capsey was then caught and bowled by Nadine de Klerk and this paved the way for a match-winning partnership of 64 in 55 balls by Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt.

Both batters played with clinical coolness, taking advantage of a plethora of short balls from the South African bowlers. Wyatt-Hodge was eventually stumped by Sinalo Jafta off the bowling of left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba for an impressive run-a-ball 43 but by then, the fate of the match had been decided.

The game did go into the final over, with England needing just four runs to win, and it was appropriate that Sciver-Brunt (48* in 36 balls including 6x4s) cover-drove the winning boundary with four balls to spare.

Aside from their short-of-a-length problems, the bowlers also tended to bowl too straight with only Kapp (1-17 in four overs) really impressing. Their fielding also needs to sharpen up with four chances going down. England also struggled in this department with another four opportunities being grassed in the South African innings.

ELEGANT WOLVAARDT

Earlier, Wolvaardt struck an elegant 42 in 39 balls to lead South Africa to their total.

Wolvaardt and fellow-opener Tazmin Brits got the South Africans to a brisk start of 31 in 5.1 overs before Brits was held at long-on off the bowling of left-arm spinner Linsey Smith.

The power play realised 37 runs, a decent start, but then the England spinners got on top of new batter Anneke Bosch who laboured to 18 off 26 balls before she was bowled trying to scoop a delivery from legspinner Sarah Glenn.

Kapp then played an important innings, upping the run-rate by showing good intensity and some powerful hitting. Wolvaardt, who was set to score five consecutive World Cup fifties, was then bowled by England’s masterful left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for 42 (39 balls, 3x4s).

Annerie Dercksen followed in Kapp’s footsteps, slamming a huge six in her unbeaten 20 in just 11 balls. But wickets continued to fall regularly with Ecclestone leading the four-spin attack with 2-15 in four overs, including the key scalp of Kapp with a superb slower delivery that never seemed to arrive, leading Kapp to play way too early. Legspinner Sarah Glenn (1-18 in four) and offspinner Charlie Dean (1-25 in four) also impressed.

ENGLAND: Maia Bouchier, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Heather Knight (capt), Alice Capsey, Amy Jones (wk), Danielle Gibson, Sophie Ecclestone, Charlie Dean, Sarah Glenn, Linsey Smith

SOUTH AFRICA: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinolo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka

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