Key events
A really excellent morning of hard cricket. Aggressive bowling from Filer in particular but utter concentration from South Africa, Wolvaardt brilliant and Dercksen working so hard despite being targeted. England got their reward in the last over before lunch, leaving it honours pretty much even. Time for me to grab some breakfast, back shortly.
WICKET! Dercksen c b Filer 41 (South Africa 113-2) LUNCH
What a shame for Dercksen! She’d done so well and was four balls away from her sandwiches. But Filer well deserved the wicket – another kicking bouncer which Dercksen shuffled away from and sent high towards the cordon. Knight can only parry it with her leap but Ecclestone collects.
36.2 overs: South Africa 113-2 (Wolvaardt 58)
35th over: South Africa 113-1 (Wolvaardt 58, Dercksen 41) I take it back, this is the penultimate over, Dean drops onto the legs and Dercksen says thanks very much and shifts it away for four.
34th over: South Africa 107-1 (Wolvaardt 57, Dercksen 36) Filer, with the penultimate over before for lunch. She’s such a tricky customer, a searing yorker, which Wolvaardt keeps out. It loops over Beaumont at short leg who leaps and lands awkwardly on the hard soil. She’ll learn, say the commentators. Dercksen runs one short in a race to come back for a second and Filer finishes an eventful over with an aggressive bouncer that tempts Dercksen – but she just pulls her bat away in time.
33rd over: South Africa 105-1 (Wolvaardt 56, Dercksen 35) Charlie Dean gets a go with ten minutes until lunch, one keeps low but with a dart of the bat Wolvaardt has it covered.
32nd over: South Africa 103-1 (Wolvaardt 55, Dercksen 34) Firey Filer is back and so nearly has a wicket. After serving up a snorter which Dercksen ducks, Dercksen then plays a nothing sort of tennis shot to the next ball and gets a top edge which flies invitingly to Bell running in from the rope. But Bell, like Bambi on a newly mopped floor, is all over the place, over runs, dives and appears to miss the ball completely. Filer turns on her heel; Knight looks unimpressed.
31st over: South Africa 102-1 (Wolvaardt 55, Dercksen 33) Ooof! Wolvaardt lucky to escape as she gets an inside edge onto a ball from NSB which zips merrily between her pads but evades the stumps. Ever zen, she then calmly takes advantage and shovels her last ball through the gap for four.
Illustrative stats on how South Africa’s scoring rate has been stifled: their first 50 took 14 overs, the second 50 18 overs.
31st over: South Africa 98-1 (Wolvaardt 51, Dercksen 33) A single from Ecclestone’s over.
Fifty for Wolvaardt!
30th over: South Africa 97-1 (Wolvaardt 50, Dercksen 33) A rogue run off NSB’s first ball disappoints the England fielders but she continues the wicket to wicket ploy to Wolvaardt. Gimlet eyed, Wolvaardt stares from beneath her green helmet, stranded for 13 balls on 49 – but here is the run! Turned off her hip for her second Test fifty. She unobtrusively raises her bat and gives her teammates a thumbs up.
29th over: South Africa 95-1 (Wolvaardt 49, Dercksen 32) Pressure building a little on South Africa as England tighten the screw – though I think Wolvaardt is able to exist in a little calm bubble of her own. Ecclestone whistles through another maiden.
28th over: South Africa 95-1 (Wolvaardt 49, Dercksen 32) A maiden from NSB.
27th over: South Africa 89-1 (Wolvaardt 49, Dercksen 32) Wolvaardt presses at an Ecclestone ripper and the ball sheets off the bat and just beats the chasing MacDonald Gay to the rope. Wolvaardt in touching distance of fifty.
26th over: South Africa 89-1 (Wolvaardt 43, Dercksen 32) NSB replaces RMG, coming in now from the Willows end. The television cameras obligingly show pockets of supporters watching from under the shade of some trees. Looks pretty blissful actually, though the flags are bristling in the wind which seems as if it has picked up a little. A handful of singles from the over.
25th over: South Africa 86-1 (Wolvaardt 41, Dercksen 31) A single from Ecclestone’s over.
24th over: South Africa 85-1 (Wolvaardt 40, Dercksen 31) Four off McDonald-Gay, but not entirely convincing, as Dercksen is hurried and gets an outside edge down to the rope. There aren’t huge numbers of people watching at Bloemfontein, unless they’re hiding somewhere I can’t see.
23rd over: South Africa 81-1 (Wolvaardt 40, Dercksen 27) After three successive maidens, Ecclestone finally concedes a run – Wolvaardt licking her lips as a short one bounces invitingly in front of her, she obligingly flies it through midwicket for four.
22nd over: South Africa 77-1 (Wolvaardt 36, Dercksen 27) A maiden from McDonald-Gay makes it two in a row for England.
21st over: South Africa 77-1 (Wolvaardt 36, Dercksen 27) Ecclestone, such an imposing figure, whistles down another maiden. The players take drinks and I’m running to put the kettle on.
20th over: South Africa 77-1 (Wolvaardt 36, Dercksen 27) A Wolvaardt pull behind square, easy does it with a flick of the wrists, brings up the fifty partnership. And a second four from Dercksen, through midwicket keeps up the momentum.
19th over: South Africa 67-1 (Wolvaardt 31, Dercksen 22) Ecclestone time! The hair that was loose in a pony tail has been tied up into a bun – this is where it gets serious. Wolvaardt and she are old foes. Wolvaardt meticulously watches and bats out the over. A maiden.
18th over: South Africa 67-1 (Wolvaardt 31, Dercksen 22) McDonald-Gay again, as the dog curls up next to me on the sofa after a brief forray for squirrel sniffing in the garden. Another impressive over of right-arm medium pace, she’s stemmed the run-rate where no-one else has.
17th over: South Africa 66-1 (Wolvaardt 30, Dercksen 22) Dercksen picks up four from Sciver-Brunt, but unconvincingly with an edge through the slips.
And a first message drops into the inbox. Good morning Peter Dudley!
”I’m trying hard to imagine an inswinger zigzagging and my mind well and truly boggles! Now there’s a delivery we’d all love to perfect!”
Hmmm, now you’ve put me on the spot maybe it was more of a zig…but it was definitely fabulous!
Summary
16th over: South Africa 62-1 (Wolvaardt 30, Dercksen 18) Knight rolls up her short sleeves, as here in Manchester the day slips into a gray dawn. A double change as 20 year old Ryana McDonald-Gay replaces Bell. She’s only 20 and this is just her fourth England game and her first Test. A neat and tidy maiden.
15th over: South Africa 62-1 (Woolvaardt 30, Dercksen 18) Heather Knight thinks it is time for a change, and switches Nat Sciver-Brunt into the attack to replace Filer. Into the grove immediately, as you’d expect from some sort of superwoman. And as I type that, she over-pitches and Dercksen thanks her with a off-drive for four – and another two balls later. She’s got impressive sang-froid this young woman.
Summary
14th over: South Africa 52-1 (Wolvaardt 29, Dercksen 10) Advantage Woolvaardt, who with text-book technique, twice drives Bell for four through the covers. And South Africa have notched up fifty in quick time.
13th over: South Africa 41-1 (Wolvaardt 19, Dercksen 10) Filer’s fourth over of the morning – I wish I could give you a mph calculation of how fast she’s bowling but I can’t see one on screen. Visibly intimidating though, rapid enough to make Dercksen back away, though she ripostes next ball by picking up four with a peachy cover drive.
12th over: South Africa 37-1 (Woolvaardt 18, Dercksen 6) Dercksen may not be used to the pace that Filer is delivering the other end but she has impressive poise. She drives Bell through the covers for four with aplomb.
Summary
11th over: South Africa 33-1 (Wolvaardt 18, Dercksen 2) Filer is finding her mojo – and delivers some spicy stuff to Dercksen. A searing bouncer to start – Derkcksen snaps back her neck to avoid being hit, her long blond hair following behind. She smiles. Another fierce bouncer follows, which Dercksen doesn’t play as well, loses sight of it, and is hit on the helmet as it flies down to the rope for four byes. Intriguing!
Summary
10th over: South Africa 28-1 (Wolvaardt 16, Dercksen 0) Bell springs in, a hop at the start of her run-up. Another smart, neat over.
9th over: South Africa 25-1 (Wolvaardt 16, Dercksen 0) Filer starts the over with a full toss which Woolvaardt drives for four, finishes with a snorting bouncer which heads for Woolvaardt’s throat and leaves her flat on her back.
8th over: South Africa 21-1 (Wolvaardt 12, Dercksen 0 ) Bosch looked all at sea for the three balls she faced, wildly wafting at the first, and nibbling obligingly to the third. An absolute beauty from Bell to finish the over, a HUGE inswinger which Dercksen left but which zig-zagged in and missed her off stump by a Christmas tree’s needle.
WICKET! Bosch c Jones b Bell 6 (South Africa 21-1)
Bosch pushes at a ball that she could have left a hundred times out of a hundred and nibbles behind.
Morning session
7th over: South Africa 21-0 (Wolvaardt 12, Bosch 6) Three slips and a gully stand and wait as Lauren Filer runs in with the first ball of the day, an inswinger on the money. From there Filer is a little wayward, drifting legside. Woolvaardt nudges one of them down to the rope.
The South Africans have a last gulp of water, and Heather Knight leads out her troops.
They’re prodding the pitch in Bloem – yesterday there was a strong wind down the ground, today it has dropped to just a little breeze. The surface still looks wonderful for bat and ball, but yesterday’s wind took most of the moisture out of the surface and there are now a few cracks.
While we wait for this Test to begin, you might (or might not) want to catch up on England’s exploits in Hamilton – a hundred for Williamson, a hamstring blow for Stokes, and another Matt-Henry snaffling for Crawley.
The pictures are now beaming in from Blomfontein where the light is bright and the sun is hot. Kaya Zondo and Nono Pongolo are singing Bouchier’s praises – her 126 was the third highest score on Test debut behind Australia’s Mel Jones and Michelle Goszko.
A lovely picture of Maia Bouchier and her dad Anthony, who was an investor in Wisden.com in the early days of the internet back in the early noughties.
Maia Bouchier’s father, Anthony, was an early investor in Wisden Online, which bought Cricinfo in 2003.
It was a proud moment for the pair today, as Maia scored a century on Test debut 🙌 pic.twitter.com/8DnbcsRs84
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) December 15, 2024
This is worth a listen from Raf and Syd on both England women’s contracts and the ECB’s new salary announcement on the Hundred where there are huge increases in pay for the top tier men, not so much for anyone else.
This was Raf’s take on day one:
Preamble
Good morning! As schoolchildren porridge-up on the last Monday before Christmas, the Manchester sky still a long way from dawn, England and South Africa prepare for day two of the one-off Test in sunny Bloemfontein.
England’s women had the best of yesterday, racking up 395 at quite the lick, with a debut Test hundred for the impressive Maia Bouchier and the quickest Test century in women’s history for Nat Sciver Brunt.
South Africa fought back in the late afternoon, snipping this way and that through the late middle order and tail, and England were unable to make a breakthrough in the six overs after Heather Knight’s declaration.
Action starts at 8am, in this first women’s Test in South Africa since 2002. Do join me, coffee in hand.
