England punish sloppy South Africa to seal T20 series
England equal their third-highest score in women’s T20 internationals to cruise to victory against South Africa and seal the three-match series with a game to spare.
Second T20, Benoni
England 204-4 (20 overs): Wyatt-Hodge 78 (45), Sciver-Brunt 67* (43)
South Africa 168-6 (20 overs): De Klerk 32* (21); Glenn 4-20
England win by 36 runs; lead series 2-0
England equalled their third-highest score in women’s T20 internationals to cruise to a 36-run victory against South Africa and seal the three-match series with a game to spare.
Heather Knight’s side took advantage of some wayward bowling and sloppy fielding to amass 202-4 from their 20 overs in Benoni.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who was dropped twice, top-scored with a sparkling 78 from just 45 balls, becoming the first England woman to pass 3,000 runs in T20 internationals.
Nat Sciver-Brunt continued her fine form with an unbeaten 67 from 43 deliveries, her third successive T20 half-century.
All of South Africa’s bowlers went for at least nine an over, with Nadine de Klerk’s 2-36 the pick of some otherwise dispiriting figures.
South Africa could only limp to 168-6 in reply, with Sarah Glenn taking 4-20 – her third-best figures in T20 internationals.
England will look to complete a series clean-sweep in the final T20 in Centurion on Saturday, before a three-match one-day international series and a one-off Test next month.
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Ruthless England secure comfortable win
England were solid if unspectacular in the opening T20 in East London on Saturday, but this was an utterly dominant victory.
They made a poor start, slipping to 15-2 when Maia Bouchier chipped the ball to mid-wicket for 20, before Sophia Dunkley fell for a duck two balls later with a nervy prod that flicked off the inside edge and onto the stumps.
That brought Sciver-Brunt to the middle to join Wyatt-Hodge and England never looked back.
They were given a helping hand by South Africa, who dropped Wyatt-Hodge twice, on nine and 29, while Sciver-Brunt was also dropped on 25.
The hosts struggled with their line and length, failing to take advantage of a pitch that offered more pace and bounce than the stodgy surface in East London.
Wyatt-Hodge’s brutal innings included 15 fours and one huge six over long-on, before she departed after a well-directed De Klerk yorker.
That failed to halt England’s momentum as lively cameos from Heather Knight, who made 26 off 19, and Amy Jones, 15 off seven, ensured England passed 200 for just the fourth time in T20 internationals.
Only one side has ever chased down a target of 200 or more in women’s T20 internationals and it never looked like happening here.
Sciver-Brunt removed opener Tazmin Brits for a duck in the opening over of South Africa’s reply.
Glenn then ripped through South Africa’s middle order, removing Faye Tunnicliffe, Annerie Dercksen and Nondumiso Shangase – the latter two with consecutive balls – to reduce South Africa to 86-5 and remove any urgency from the game.
The returning Chloe Tryon showed some resistance with 30 from 24 balls before becoming the fourth batter to be clean bowled by Glenn to all but secure victory for England.
‘We want to push for the 3-0 win now’ – reaction
England captain Heather Knight: “I am really pleased with the team. It’s what we are about as a batting team, Danni and Nat showing their expertise.
“We want to push for the 3-0 win now.”
Player of the match, England spinner Sarah Glenn: “It’s a great achievement. I wasn’t expecting to be player of the match. Danni was awesome and Nat as well coming in and doing her thing.
“I focused on just getting wickets. The pitch suited me so I wanted to keep it simple and use the pace.”
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt: “Not our best performance all-round. We let them get too many with the bat because we didn’t take our chances in the field.
“We had plans, but we got a bit carried away with the extra bounce in the pitch and we went too short and wide.”
