- South Africa 218 all the way out; England 219-5 (win by five wickets)
England may be a little behind the pace-setting Australians, but this comfortable five-wicket victory over South Africa cements their status as the undisputed challengers of the women’s game.
Emma Lamb’s perfect pace 102 off 97 balls from the top of the order nearly led her team to their goal, while Katherine Brunt’s brilliance with the new ball meant the hosts were always ahead. Nat Sciver also played her part. After hitting 169 clear runs in the Taunton test last month, she claimed her best ODI numbers of four for 59 before hitting a 36-ball 55.
The tourists were way below their best. Perhaps Lizelle Lee’s sudden retirement had dampened the mood in the camp. Whatever the cause, they were abject on the field and devoid of ideas with the ball.
That the game had some semblance of competition was a result of Chloe Tryon’s blistering 88 from 73 balls. A veteran of 95 ODIs, her average of 23 belies her talents and she proved it in challenging conditions. She strode for the wicket in the 23rd over, as her team floundered with less than four left, four down with 73 on the board. When Laura Wolvaardt fell in front of a pedestrian 43, you felt the next five wickets would fall easily.
Rather than back off, Tryon pressed on, knocking off three sixes and ten fours while facing Sophie Ecclestone’s miserly twist. She had a capable partner in Nadine de Klerk (38) and took the lead in a sixth-wicket score of 97.
That was as good as it got for the South Africans melting in the wake of Brunt’s opening spell. She swung the ball both ways around a fourth stump line, catching opener Andrie Steyn for 14, then found Lara Goodall’s rim for five. Ecclestone, whose six-for-36 tormented South Africa in the World Cup semi-final in March, threw Sune Luus but otherwise lacked penetration. And when Tryon got going, she similarly missed her usual frugality.