For just the 4th time in over 200 T20 internationals, England posted a total of over 200 versus South Africa in Benoni. To put that in perspective, a typical 1st innings score in games between the 10 sides that competed in the recent T20 World Cup is 147 – a number England flew by in the 15th over of their onslaught.
England 204-4 v South Africa #SAvENG 🏏
The only thing that looked like potentially stopping England was when a floodlight cut out at the end of the 9th over, causing the umpires to suspend play for some minutes while power was restored. It appeared to be the result of a localised power cut – the drone camera showed the entire town apparently without power – a common fact of life in South Africa. When we were there for the World Cup last year, all of the grounds had industrial generators to provide backup power in these circumstances, so presumably one of these failed to start up when the grid went offline.
For South Africa, this was the 3rd time an opposition has hit 200+ against them, but the first time ever outside Somerset – the two previous occurrences having occurred on a single day in 2018, when first New Zealand (216) and then England (250) did the damage in a Tri-Series at the County Ground in Taunton.
The only time a side hitting over 200 has ever lost a women’s T20 international was when Hayley Matthews hit 132 to help West Indies overhaul 212 against Australia last year; and South Africa initially came out like a team who knew the odds were stacked against them, going at under a run-a-ball in the powerplay to reach 30-1.
Annerie Dercksen looked to inject a bit of impetus into South Africa’s chase, and with her and Laura Wolvaardt at the crease the hosts actually topped 10 runs per over in the post-powerplay early middle phase, before Dercksen discovered (as so many have before) that swiping across the line to Sarah Glenn is a dangerous game.
Even before Dercksen was dismissed for 24 off 15, the required rate was beginning to ratchet up, from just under 13 at the end of the 10th over to more than 18 at the end of the 15th; and although Tryon’s and de Klerk’s innings of 30 and 32* might look on paper to have been the more significant contributions, the pressure was well and truly off for them, with absolutely zero chance of South Africa getting anywhere near England’s total by that stage.
England 204-4 v South Africa 168-6 #SAvENG 🏏
Nonetheless, the fact that South Africa actually outscored England at the death is worth noting. Glenn aside, England’s bowling was scrappy – reflected in the fact that although England were the ones that scored 200, South Africa struck the two highest grossing overs of the game – 18 off Dean in the 10th, and 21 off Nat “Shiver” Brunt, as the South African commentator kept referring to her, in the 19th. Lauren Filer was wildly inconsistent, and Freya Kemp once again didn’t look like an international class bowler – something with which Heather Knight presumably agreed, because she didn’t give her another over after the first one went for 14.
Glenn though was at her gravity-defying best, taking all 4 wickets bowled by putting pressure on the stumps and using her limitations as a weapon – a bit of variation in pace and length; a bit of overspin – just enough to slide the ball past the batters when they were tempted to play across the line.
The award of Player of the Match to Glenn was perhaps an indication that England’s massive 1st innings total was given a significant boost by a poor South African performance with the ball and in the field. Danni Wyatt-Hodge’s partnership of 112 off 63 balls with Nat Sciver-Brunt would have been somewhat smaller if Wyatt hadn’t been dropped twice early doors – the Jafta chance behind the stumps would have been a spectacular take, but the Mlaba one of the boundary really should have been taken.
What England did do well was to relentlessly keep going towards the 200. Once Wyatt-Hodge was out would have been easy to retrench and slip back to 175/185; and with the first 5 balls of the 17th over having gone for 4 singles and a dot, the 200 was slipping away. But Sciver-Brunt wasn’t having any of it – stepping up and bashing the final delivery of the over for 6 to maintain the momentum. A useful cameo from Amy Jones, in the kind of situation where she excels – playing a short innings to put the cherry on the cake – sealed the deal for England’s batters; and as we’ve noted, the psychological barrier of 200 is a formidable one. It proved far too formidable for South Africa today.
CRICKETher 
A much-improved display from England, the main attraction being the brilliant batting from DWH and NSB – what a superb partnership that was. And the innings was nicely rounded off by a couple of smart cameos from Knight and Jones.
SA were severely lacking in the field and with the ball, the wheels really came off and they lacked control for much of the innings. Things could have been a bit different if they’d taken their catches, but England still would have posted a high score in this game, I feel.
Of concern to England will be the form of Dunkley, who looks out of sorts again at the moment both with the bat and in the field, dropping a fairly straightforward chance in NSB’s first over. She didn’t watch a Hlubi delivery closely enough (it didn’t appear to deviate that much?) and let it slip past onto the stumps.
I also think England let SA have a few too many runs as well, although SA never really looked like they would get close to reaching their target. Glenn’s turnaround from the first game was remarkable and SA had no answers. Ecclestone is finding it tough at the moment, although it’s hard to put a finger on exactly what’s wrong from her perspective (I suspect part of the problem is batters taking a more aggressive approach), her bowling form remains a concern as well.
You say “Lauren Filer was wildly inconsistent” but I disagree. She was pretty effective, and offered a different challenge to the SA batters, forcing a lot of playing and missing and rushed shots. She only went at 7.5 rpo (with a high dot %) and offers the potential to unsettle batters and force wickets from different types of deliveries, which is what England need. Fast bowling can look wayward at times but is fun to watch, and I think it was a decent effort from her. She is useful to England in all formats it would appear. Unless the selectors are planning on bringing a rejuvenated Wong back right now, it might be an idea to keep Filer around. In my opinion, bringing Filer into the group must rank as one of Lewis’s better selection decisions.
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Having gunned down the South African attack one is left to wonder why Wyatt married football agent Hodge rather than goalkeeper Mary Earps !
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