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Beaumont upstages Kapp to lead England to ODI series win over Proteas

general11 December 2024 20:44| © MWP
By:Ross Roche
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A cracking half century from Tammy Beaumont upstaged a superb spell of bowling from Marizanne Kapp as England cruised to a comfortable six-wicket Duckworth-Lewis-Stern win over the Proteas to clinch the ODI series 2-1 at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom on Wednesday night.

It was a shortened chase for England, who were set 152 to win off 23 overs after the Proteas had batted first and managed 233-8 in their 50, only for lightning and rain to delay the start of the second innings for two and a half hours, leading to the reduced DLS chase.

Kapp then got the Proteas off to the perfect start with the ball, picking up two wickets in her first over and a third in her third, but she received barely any support from the rest of the bowling department as England eased home with 24 balls to spare.

Kapp finished with top figures of 3-24 in her five overs, but opener Beaumont batted through for the visitors, thumping 65* off 46 balls (10x4), while Dani Wyatt-Hodge, 22 off 16 (4x4) and Amy Jones, 49* off 36 (6x4) backed her up.

“I think we started well with the bat but came up short in the end. Lost a few too many wickets in clusters, like we did the other day, and then just couldn’t really maximise the last 10 overs,” explained Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt after the match.

“I think a score of 260 to 280 would have made the scores more interesting for this little T20 we had at the end. Defending six an over under lights in Potch was always going to be difficult.

“We knew the only way to get into it was to take wickets early, which we did. Kappy started brilliantly with the ball, couldn’t have asked for much more than that. But we failed to back her up with the ball.

“But we will take many learnings (from the series). It’s still a very young group. Individually we will do a lot of reflection, see where we can get better and fix what we did wrong. But it was a really strong performance from England. They have been a really tough competitor throughout the series.

KAPP ON SONG

The England chase got off to a poor start as Kapp had Maia Bouchier (4) caught by Nadine de Klerk at midwicket and Nat Sciver-Brunt caught for a second-ball duck by Anneke Bosch at point to reduce them to 4-2.

At the start of her third over she pinged the top of captain Heather Knight’s (6) off stump, as England slipped to 26-3.

Proteas captain Wolvaardt should probably have backed Kapp to bowl her full complement of fiver overs, but pulled her, which allowed England to recover, and although Kapp bowled her final two later in the innings it was when England were set and they saw her out comfortably.

Beaumont and Wyatt-Hodge shared 38 for the fourth wicket, before Chloe Tryon trapped Wyatt-Hodge LBW, with the score 63-4.

It was then the Beaumont and Jones show as they combined for a fantastic unbeaten 90-run fifth-wicket stand off just 66 balls to power their team home.

SOLID FIFTY FROM WOLVAARDT

In the first innings it was a disappointing effort from the hosts, who were very well placed at 97-1 at a stage after a solid half century at the top of the order from Wolvaardt, but once she fell regular wickets throughout stunted their progress as they stumbled to their total.

Wolvaardt top scored for her side, cracking 61 off 68 balls (9x4), with Kapp (38) and Tryon (20) the next best efforts, along with a host of batters getting starts but falling for less than 20.

The Proteas got off to a decent start as Wolvaardt and Lara Goodall (17) shared 50 for the first wicket, but Goodall looked a bit under pressure and after hitting Lauren Bell for four, slapped the next delivery straight to Beaumont at mid-on to become the first wicket of the day.

Bosch (19) was next in and she helped Wolvaardt keep the score chugging along, as the captain brought up her half century with lovely driven four through extra cover in the 20th over.

But just as they were setting up their side for a push at a big total, England fought back with a double strike in two overs, Alice Capsey having Bosch caught by Knight at short cover, and Wolvaardt trapped LBW by Sophie Ecclestone as they slipped to 107-3.

That kick-started a regular procession of wickets as Nadine de Klerk (14) was run out and Annerie Dercksen (13) was pinned LBW by Charlie Dean, leaving them on 156-5.

Kapp and Tryon then sparked hopes that they could get the Proteas to a strong total, combining for a 42-run sixth-wicket stand.

But both batters gave it away as Kapp hit Capsey straight down long-on’s throat, and Tryon came down the wicket to Ecclestone, missed the ball and was stumped by keeper Jones.

Masabata Klaas fell for a seven-ball duck, popping a catch to Sciver-Brunt off Dean, which was the third wicket to fall for three runs, as they crashed to 201-8.

But Mieke de Ridder (19*) and Nonkululeko Mlaba (16*) combined for a potentially valuable unbeaten 32-run ninth-wicket stand to see out the final seven and a half overs and give themselves a few extra runs.

SOUTH AFRICA: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Lara Goodall, Anneke Bosch, Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Mieke de Ridder (wk), Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeto Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka

ENGLAND: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (capt), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Alice Capsey, Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Kate Cross, Lauren Bell

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