The one-off Test between England and South Africa kick-started on Monday at The Cooper Associates Ground in Taunton. England’s captain Heather Knight won the toss and elected to bowl first.
The English bowlers gave the perfect start to their team as they got rid of the South African top order in a jiffy. The visitors were struggling at 45/4 as the pace trio of Issy Wong, Kate Cross and Natalie Sciver struck for the hosts. South Africa’s opening batter Laura Wolvaardt, who scored a delectable century in the practice match against England A just before the Test could only manage to score 16 in her debut Test. Wolvaardt’s opening partner Andrie Steyn (8) and Lara Goodall (10) also fell cheaply. Lizelle Lee was sent packing by Lauren Bell without troubling the scorers. South Africa’s captain Sune Luus looked good during her innings of 27 runs and together with Marizanne Kapp looked to steady the Proteas’ sinking ship. Luus and Kapp put together 44 runs for the fifth wicket.
Playing a test after 8 long years, Marizanne Kapp has smashed her maiden Test Century in 151 balls.
Take a bow, Kapp ❤️❤️#CricketTwitter #ENGvSA pic.twitter.com/YGHCt27DZL
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 27, 2022
The star of the day however was Kapp, who scored a brilliant 150 off 213 balls, including 26 boundaries. Playing just her second Test, the all-rounder absorbed all the pressure and put her head down to bail her team out of the trouble. The right-handed batter came in to bat in the 18th over and was there in the middle till the 88th over. Apart from the 44-run stand with Luus, Kapp stitched a 72-run partnership with Anneke Bosch (30) for the sixth wicket, 41-run partnership with Nadine de Klerk (9) for the seventh wicket, 25-run partnership with Sinalo Jafta (4) for the eight wicket and 49-run partnership with Tumi Sekhukhune (9 not out) for the ninth wicket. Kapp’s 150 is now the highest score in women’s Test cricket for any batter batting at number six or lower. She also broke Yvonne van Mentz’s 59-year record for highest score by a South African in Women’s Tests.
150* for Marizanne Kapp 😍 #ENGvSA #CricketTwitter pic.twitter.com/dxtEFCQxlr
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) June 27, 2022
Riding on Kapp’s stellar batting performance, South Africa posted 284 in 91.4 overs at the end of their first innings. For England, right arm speedster, Kate Cross was the pick of the bowlers as she scalped 63/4 in 17.4 overs. She opened the bowling and bowled well with the new ball striking in the fifth over of the match. She was well-supported by Lauren Bell who claimed 47/2 in 16 overs. Issy Wong, Natalie Sciver, Sophie Ecclestone and Alice Davidson Richards were the other wicket-takers for England who accounted for one each.
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I am a former cricketer having represented Mumbai University at All India University level. I was a part of MCA probables for the U-19 and U-23 age group. I have been an avid cricket writer for the last five years. Currently I am pursuing my Ph.D from IIT Bombay.