Proteas Women succumb to England's smart spinners

South Africa were made to rue a ragged effort with the bat as they slipped to a seven-wicket defeat against England in their second T20 World Cup match on Monday evening. 

England, again making liberal use of their spinners, restricted the Proteas to 124/6, a total that even on a slow Sharjah pitch, was below par. Thanks to a 64-run third wicket partnership between Nat Sciver-Brunt and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, the English reached their target with four balls to spare. 

The win all but secures their place in the semifinals, while the Proteas will need to beat Scotland and Bangladesh in their remaining group games to make it to the playoffs. 

They’ll be glad that both of those matches will be in Dubai, where the pace of the surface is slightly less sluggish than Sharjah. 

With England using 16 overs of spin, the South African batters were forced to create their own pace and despite a reasonably good start by openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tasmin Brits, who shared a partnership of 31, they weren’t able to keep the scoreboard ticking in the way England managed to do later. 

Much of that was to do with them trying to hit boundaries, perhaps a reflection of wanting to maintain the aggressive game plan that worked so well for them in the pre-tournament series they played in Pakistan.

But England, who have adopted a similar philosophy, showed there’s more to being aggressive than just hitting fours and sixes. Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt cleverly hit the ball into space, happy to take singles and twos, while knowing that the South African bowlers would make enough mistakes, to give them the chance to locate boundaries. 

By contrast, South Africa got stuck after the power play, where a partnership of 40 between Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch used up 49 balls, with Bosch the main culprit as she struggled to get the spinners away. 

She hit her first boundary off the 25th ball she faced, and was then bowled between the legs, trying to pull the next delivery she faced from leg-spinner Sarah Glenn. She made just 18, and her struggles increased the pressure on Wolvaardt, whose scoring rate also slowed after the power play. 

Wolvaardt’s dismissal was the result of her trying to play catch-up against the dangerous Sophie Eccelstone and she was bowled by the classy left-arm spinner for 42, having faced 39 balls. 

South Africa’s innings did get some much needed acceleration from Marizanne Kapp and Annerie Dercksen; the former making 26 off 17 balls, while Dercksen finished on 20 not out off 11 balls. 

Ecclestone’s impact was immense, besides Wolvaardt, she also bowled Kapp, a wicket which given the way the ace South African all-rounder was batting, was the difference between South Africa reaching 140 and the total they eventually reached.

Kapp again bowled superbly in the power play, with two of her three overs maidens while she also claimed the wicket of Maia Bouchier. She should have had a second wicket in that over, but Bosch dropped a fairly simple catch at point that would have seen Alice Capsey dismissed second ball. 

Though England’s No.3 only made 19, the impetus she helped create in partnership with Wyatt-Hodge, who made a run-a-ball 43, was crucial in the final outcome. Sciver-Brunt struck the winning runs, finishing on 48 not out.