Key events
6th over: England 29-0 (Beaumont 14, Bouchier 10) Hlubi begins by bowling too straight, the ball angling down the leg side, before re-routing towards the off-stump channel. Bouchier inside-edges the ball for one.
5th over: England 28-0 (Beaumont 14, Bouchier 9) A fine Kapp over is slightly ruined by the final ball, with Beaumont driving through the covers for four.
4th over: England 24-0 (Beaumont 10, Bouchier 9) It’s scorching in Bloemfontein as Hlubi finds her areas after an iffy first over, testing out Bouchier’s forward defence. There’s a mix-up between the two batters as Bouchier clips to square leg (yes-no etc); they decide against the run and the throw at the striker’s stumps is wayward anyway.
3rd over: England 20-0 (Beaumont 10, Bouchier 9) Kapp continues to threaten Beaumont’s front pad, finding a hint of swing through the air. The openers exchange singles.
2nd over: England 18-0 (Beaumont 9, Bouchier 8) Ayanda Hlubi takes off from the other end, and Bouchier collects her first Test runs with a delicious on-drive for four. A low full toss is then flicked through the leg side for another boundary; England are racing against the red ball.
1st over: England 9-0 (Beaumont 8, Bouchier 0) Marizanne Kapp, South Africa’s premier all-rounder, opens up with the ball against Tammy Beaumont … the batter immediately flicks off her pads to the boundary. Kapp then hits the pads and it looks plumb! But the finger somehow doesn’t go up and Kapp can’t believe it. And here’s the annoying part: there’s no DRS in this match. Beaumont collects another boundary to rub it in. An eventful start.
The anthems are underway. In another part of the world, another England Test side have had a bit of a stinker with the bat.
The teams
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Annerie Dercksen, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayanda Hlubi
England: Tammy Beaumont, Maia Bouchier, Heather Knight (c), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Danni Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
Maia Bouchier is England’s other debutant in this format, partnering Tammy Beaumont up top.
England win the toss and choose to bat first
Heather Knight makes the correct call. She confirms the absence of Kate Cross, who sustained a back spasm in the third ODI. That means a Test debut for the 20-year-old Ryana MacDonald-Gay.
Preamble
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to a little slice of history. South Africa’s women are set to play their first Test match at home since … March 2002. It’s been a while.
The wait ends in Bloemfontein, with Heather Knight’s side the visitors, aiming to complete an all-format sweep on this tour. England won the T20s 3-0, the ODIs 2-1, and a red-ball win would round things off rather nicely before they set off for the Ashes.
Women’s Tests remain a once-in-a-while event, the main battleground still the white-ball stuff, with no domestic long-form scene to prep these two sides for the contest. A win for either team would end lengthy droughts. England haven’t won a red-ball game since January 2014, with nine matches since resulting in four losses and five draws. South Africa have won just one match in their history, against the Netherlands in 2007.
Drop me a line with all your thoughts, queries, Sunday plans, whatever you want. And here’s a banger to enjoy … from the charts in March 2002.
