Charlie Dean’s hat-trick stole the show, as the visitors, England, landed a counterpunch to seal the 2nd ODI by six wickets and level the three-match ODI series at Kingsmead, Durban.
For the series decider, the 3rd ODI, England made just one change as Lauren Bell replaced Lauren Filer in the playing 11. While, on the other hand, South Africa made a wholesale of as many as four changes, testing their bench strength. Lara Goodall replaced Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch replaced Sune Luus, wicket-keeper batter Mieke de Ridder replaced Sinalo Jafta and Masabata Klaas replaced Ayanda Hlubi.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp lead the scoring South Africa
The South African openers Lara Goodall and skipper Laura Wolvaardt got their side off to a steady start with a 50-run opening partnership after the opposition skipper Heather Knight won the toss and opted to field first at Senwes Park, Potchefstroom. Lauren Bell picked up the wicket of Lara Goodall, to provide the first breakthrough for England.
Anneke Bosch joined skipper Laura Wolvaardt at the crease and the pair took their side closer to the 100-run mark with another crucial 47-run partnership for the 2nd wicket. Skipper Heather Knight’s gamble to stick with Alice Capsey paid off as she bounced back after being smashed around the park, in her previous over, by removing Anneke Bosch in the 22nd over of the innings.
The home side suffered a mini collapse as they lost their next three wickets for 59 runs. Chloe Tryon (20 off 21 balls) partnered with Marizanne Kapp at the crease to arrest the collapse with a much-needed 42-run 6th wicket partnership to take their side closer to the 200-run mark. Alice Capsey returned and picked up the big wicket of Marizanne Kapp (38 off 54 balls) to provide the 6th breakthrough for her side.
South Africa eventually ended up with a total of 233/8 in their quota of 50 overs courtesy of a cameo from the duo of Nonkululeko Mlaba (16* off 19 balls) and wicket-keeper batter Mieke de Ridder (19* off 40 balls), with a partnership worth an unbeaten 32 for the 9th wicket. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt (61 off 68 balls) was the top-scorer with the bat for the Proteas. Notably, most of the batters got starts, but none of them managed to convert it into a match, and a potentially series-defining knock for their side.
Sophie Ecclestone (10-1-26-2), Nat Sciver-Brunt (10-1-40-0), Lauren Bell (10-1-46-1), and Charlie Dean (10-1-52-2) were the ones who stood out with the ball for England.
Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones power England to a series win
The game was initially halted due to thundering after the innings break before eventually the rains arrived and took a significant chunk of time out of the crucial series decider. The run-chase was eventually reduced to 23 overs and the target was revised to 152. The veteran all-rounder Marizanne Kapp got the home side off to a dream start, ripping a couple of wickets inside the first over of the run chase. She also went on to pick up the big scalp of the opposition skipper Heather Knight in the 5th over of the innings, putting her side in a very strong position in the decider at Potchefstroom.
Danielle Wyatt-Hodge joined Tammy Beaumont at the crease and the pair steadied the ship with a much-needed 38-run partnership for the 4th wicket to take their side past the 50-run mark. Chloe Tryon dismissed Danielle Wyatt-Hodge in the 9th over of the innings to provide a crucial breakthrough for South Africa.
Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones partnered with the opening batter Tammy Beaumont and the duo took their side over the line with a massive unbeaten 90-run 5th wicket partnership to seal the game and the ODI series by six wickets and 24 balls to spare. Tammy Beaumont (65* off 46 balls) carried her bat throughout the innings, scoring her 22nd half-century in the format to guide her side over the line. Wicket-keeper batter Amy Jones (49* off 36 balls), and Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (22 off 16 balls) were the standout performers with the bat for England.
Tammy Beaumont was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning innings with the bat for her side. Charlie Dean was awarded the Player of the Series as she picked up 7 wickets with the ball and scored 47 runs with the bat throughout the three-match ODI series.
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