England wrapped up the Test in Bloemfontein with a day to spare as South Africa disintegrated – Lauren Bell finishing with 8-76 across the match as South Africa were bowled out for just 64 – their lowest ever total in a completed innings in a Women’s Test. (Though South Africa still have some way to go to match the 35 that England were bowled out for in  Melbourne in 1958, on a day when Australia were also bowled out for 38 – remarkably, the game still ended in a draw, partly because one of the three allocated days was lost to rain, so it was effectively a two-day match.)

England (395-9 & 236) bt. South Africa (281 & 64-9) #ENGvSA 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-17T14:33:26.603Z

From what felt like (at worst) a half-decent position on Day 2 at 237-3, South Africa lost 16-108 across their two innings to go down to their heaviest ever defeat by 286 runs.

Heather Knight will be cracking-out the champagne to celebrate her first ever Test win in 8 years as captain; but if we are honestly weighing up the scales of England Good <-> South Africa Bad then they mostly fall down on the latter side, which has been the story of the entire tour. Lauren Bell did bowl well today, and England did take 20 wickets. (Well… 19 actually – Ayanda Hlubi apparently could have batted if she’d really had to, but the coaches correctly surmised that the chances of her batting out 4 sessions for the draw were not high.)

But in-between, England were themselves effectively bowled out twice. (Though technically they declared their first innings at 9-down.) Their performance with the bat in the 2nd innings certainly won’t be giving the Australians any sleepless nights ahead of the Ashes Test at the MCG next month.

Maia Bouchier added a 19-ball duck to her century from the first day; Nat Sciver-Brunt was forced to remind people that she can’t do it every time; whilst Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones showed again that they aren’t really able to adjust to the different pace required for Test cricket. Only an obstinate 90 from Heather Knight made the difference between a respectable 2nd innings score and something that could have put a very different complexion on the game. That, plus the lead from the first innings, meant that South Africa were always batting to save the game.

Subsequently, the bowlers did their job – putting the ball in the right place and letting momentum do its work as the South African Jenga-tower began to topple one last time in a series where we’ve seen a few castles crumble. We weren’t supposed to be counting overall series points, but if we were it was 14-2.

It’s a big win, but perhaps the biggest winners today were not England but Sony – yes, that Sony – the company that made your PlayStation, who also own Hawk-Eye – better known to cricket fans these days as DRS.

DRS is a fantastic technology and the game of cricket is the better for it, but it is also very expensive, so Cricket South Africa opted to leave it on the bench for this Test, which was clearly being run on a shoestring. South Africa were soon ruing its absence however, after Laura Wolvaardt was given out LBW yesterday having clearly inside-edged the ball onto her pad. Wolvaardt’s reaction earned her a reprimand (somewhat unfairly, I think – she was obviously fuming, but she didn’t actually argue with the umpire) but worse was to come.

Annerie Dercksen also got an edge onto her pad, but this one ballooned-up into the air and was caught by Tammy Beaumont at short leg. England appealed vociferously, and the umpire behind the stumps appeared initially to say no, before conferring with her colleague at square leg, and then sending it upstairs to the 3rd umpire. To everyone watching, the question appeared to be whether or not Dercksen had edged it – there was no doubt that Tammy had caught it cleanly – so when the verdict came back “Out”, it left everyone wondering on what basis it had been referred.

This is important, because the 3rd umpire can check if the batter hit it; but first the decision has to be referred, and that can only happen if there is doubt over whether or not the catch was fair, which there didn’t appear to be any doubt about; suggesting the umpires had got it wrong.

However, there was one more twist in the tale to come. Heather Knight revealed in the post-match press conference that the referral had been not for a clean catch, but for a bump ball. Once that has been referred (as with the catch) the 3rd Umpire can check whether or not the ball was actually hit.

So ultimately the correct decision appears to have been made, although there is still perhaps an argument that without a “Snickometer” the 3rd umpire didn’t have enough evidence to relitigate the on-field decision. Regardless, the decision came at the expense of huge confusion over whether or not the right procedure had been followed and whether Dercksen should have been given out, which leaves a bitter taste on the tongue.

It certainly left the new South African coach, Mandla Mashimbyi, with questions. In his post-match press conference, he was diplomatic – explicitly saying that he was concerned that the assembled journalists were trying to get him to say something which would get him into trouble – but he made it pretty clear he wasn’t happy, and that the board might wish to reconsider their decision not to use DRS in future.

The bottom line is that it now feels like a Rubicon has been crossed – we’ve already been here in other formats and series, and every time we’ve ended-up saying “Enough!” We can’t play matches of this profile, without DRS in future – it always ends in controversy and the boards backing down anyway. The concern is, as Raf expressed on the CRICKETher Weekly last Sunday, that the cost of hosting a Test will then become prohibitive for the less prosperous boards; but perhaps imaginative solutions can be found? For example, could this game have been played back-to-back with a men’s Test, using the same cameras and saving on setup and tear-down costs? Could Sony be leaned-on to offer the system pro-bono as a gesture of equality? Whatever the answer, it needs finding – the SOS has gone up – someone needs to answer it.

A half-century from Sune Luus kept South Africa just-about in the game, though England lead by 145 runs at the end of Day 2 in the Test at Bloemfontein.

England (395-9 & 31-1) v South Africa (281) #ENGvSA 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-16T16:21:08.392Z

Luus’ innings was one of marvellous mental fortitude – it is enlightening to compare her innings with Maia Bouchier’s yesterday: Bouchier faced 154 balls and scored 126 runs; Luus 148 balls for 56 runs. In other words, Bouchier scored more than twice as many runs in (roughly) the same number of balls. For players brought up on white-ball cricket, scoring runs is the easy bit – occupying the crease, as Luus did, is a much tougher ask. Hitting the balls that are there to be hit is what the modern white ball player does by instinct; leaving the balls that are there to be left goes against every grain.

Over the past few years, since Luus stopped bowling her leg-spin, I’ve sometimes wondered why South Africa continued to pick her; but she showed today what a crucial cog in the South African machine she can be, and ‪I thought Global Cricket‬ on Bluesky made a really interesting observation about her:

She scored an epic century against India when SA almost saved the game. It's intriguing to think how modern women's players would be viewed if they played more long format and less short format stuff, because some of them who aren't elite T20 players might be seen much more positively.

— Global Cricket (@somuchcricket.bsky.social) 2024-12-16T12:50:23.537Z

But despite 3 half-centuries (Wolvaardt, Luss and Kapp) and a 40 from Annerie Dercksen, South Africa really didn’t get what they wanted out of the day; and once Luus was dismissed, they subsided from 259-5 to 281 all out – losing their last 5 wickets for 22 runs. Lauren Bell was the key beneficiary, taking 3 of those 5 wickets to finish with 4-49; but arguably Lauren Filer (2-53) and Ryana MacDonald-Gay (2-50) both bowled better.

Filer’s role today was her most effective one – basically “The Heavy” in a Mafia movie: go in; break stuff; leave before the police get there! It is noticeable that she really is only capable of bowling very short spells – she looks knackered after 3 overs; and although England justify this as an explicit tactic of “short, sharp bursts”, I suspect this is post-rationalisation and they’d really like her to be able to go on for slightly longer. If she can lift her fitness over the next couple of years, that really would take her to another level.

Ryana MacDonald-Gay is in some senses the anti-Filer – she hasn’t got much pace at all, so she has to be totally on-the-money, which means trying to bowl consistently hitting the top off off stump and waiting for the reward – a tactic which bought her both her wickets today – Marizanne Kapp bowled and Nadine de Klerk caught behind. Kate Cross, who she replaced in the XI, needs to be her role model; but my feeling is that she isn’t quite ready to fill Cross’s shoes yet, and the Australians will probably find her easy pickings if she plays at the MCG in the Ashes.

Marizanne Kapp admitted in the post-match that England were “a little bit” ahead in the match. I think it is more like “a lot bit”, but there is still a path to South Africa overturning the odds and winning this match, if they can bowl England out in the first session tomorrow. If they don’t, then they are going to find themselves batting to save the game on the last day, on a pitch that is visibly starting to misbehave. Incredibly, Heather Knight has never won a Test in 8 years as England captain – she may never get a better chance to change that than in the next two days.

No one has ever lost a women’s Test having scored more than 300 in the 1st innings, so although there is a first time for everything it feels like England are in complete control having chalked-up 395-9 on Day 1 versus South Africa.

England (395-9) v South Africa (17-0) #ENGvSA 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-15T15:18:51.277Z

Maia Bouchier and (who else?) Nat Sciver-Brunt both hit hundreds as England made the most of what looked like a decent track on a windy day in Bloemfontein, which is slap bang in the middle of South Africa on the Highveld – elevated at over 1,400m above sea-level.

Opening the batting on Test debut, Bouchier needed to find a balance between her natural instinct to play carefree, attacking cricket and the fact that this was, after all, a Test match; and she did that pretty effectively for 45 overs to reach her hundred. She did then slightly switch modes – throwing the bat a bit and going for a few more shots, and was inevitably out caught shortly afterwards. (Very, very well caught at slip by Sune Luus – memo to Sophie Ecclestone: if you want to field at slip in Test cricket, this is the sort of catch you should be taking!)

I’d have liked to see Bouchier knuckle-down and push on towards a second hundred – it felt like Tammy Beaumont’s England record score of 208 was there for the taking – but that’s not to take anything away from what she achieved today.

If Bouchier wasn’t going to take Beaumont’s record, then I was sure that Nat Sciver-Brunt would, providing she didn’t run short of partners. She looked in remorseless touch, and was only undone by a freak dismissal – run out at the non-striker’s end after a deflection from the fingertips of Nonkululeko Mlaba. NSB rarely shows emotion on the field, but she was obviously absolutely steaming as a consequence – Amy Jones walked over to try to apologise and… well… let’s just say NSB clearly wasn’t much up for an apology at that particular moment!

England then suffered a little bit of a collapse. Charlie Dean’s role with the bat for England is generally to play sensibly and stick around after the top order have messed up – in other words, to play what we might think of as a “Test match innings”; but when it came to an actual Test match innings, she went a tad too much into defensive mode and ended up in a right pickle to Mlaba – backing off the shot until there was nowhere left to go back to, and then somehow bunting it under her own legs and into the stumps.

England should probably have declared at this point, and given themselves a proper go at South Africa’s batters after a tiring day in the field. When Amy Jones was dismissed shortly afterwards, they definitely should have – they’d have had 13 overs, which could have meant 4 each for the Laurens, and then a handful for Ecclestone and Dean too. There is going to be some real turn on this pitch for Dean, and if Mlaba can walk away with 4 wickets, I’d back Dean to take 5 or 6.

As it was, Heather Knight waited too long for the declaration, and then only had the 6 overs at the South African openers, allowing them to set up camp to block everything, taking them to 17-0 at the close.

We mentioned that no one has ever lost a Test having made 300 in the first innings, but whether England can go on and win this game is another matter entirely. Teams have made more than England’s 395 on 11 occasions in the past, and over half of those matches have ended in a draw – all 3 matches where England have previously scored 395+ ended in draws.  Taking 20 wickets in 4 days is always the problem in women’s Tests – England probably need to take at least 10 tomorrow to have a chance of getting the win.

Tammy Beaumont recently passed a milestone that she never wanted: the 2nd ODI was her 100th consecutive match in the format. She is the first England player to have achieved this, and it is something that only two other players (Mignon du Preez and Mithali Raj) have done before. And yet it only happened because of something she didn’t want – her omission from the squad for the recent T20 World Cup in the UAE. If she had been selected, she would have missed the ODI series in Ireland in September, and been marooned on 95 consecutive appearances.

Beaumont has been out of favour in the T20 format for a while – she hasn’t played a T20 for England as part of their “first-choice” XI since 2022, though she did play the T20s in Ireland, plus 3 matches in New Zealand earlier this year when England were missing players at the WPL. Back in 2022 she was told to go away and improve her Strike Rate; and she did that, but to her disappointment she still couldn’t find a way back into the team.

So it is ironic that her latest match-winning ODI performance came in the shape of what was effectively a T20 innings – a knock of 65* off 46 balls, as England chased a DLS-adjusted target of 152 in 23 overs to win the ODI series v South Africa.

South Africa 233-8 v England 153-4 (T: 152) #SAvENG 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-11T20:16:37.074Z

In a series in which both sides had traded shockers – England in the 1st ODI and South Africa in the 2nd – the South African innings earlier in the afternoon saw improved performances from both teams, but that is deliberately to damn with faint praise: South Africa batted “okay” to reach 233; England bowled “okay” to take 8 wickets. The South Africans would have been hoping for 50-odd more at a ground which is renowned for being batter-friendly; whilst England will be wondering why the couldn’t finish-off the South African tail having had them 7-down with 10 overs remaining.

Losing Kate Cross to injury in the first over of the day was obviously a blow for England, but the last 9 overs were all bowled by their front-line options, with Capsey having completed her complement in the 41st over, so they might have done better in that final phase. To be fair though, they did keep South Africa below par, which became even more significant with the rain delay which followed, which saw DLS ratchet-up the required run rate from 4.7 to 6.6 – almost 2 runs per over more. It was a fair adjustment – a required rate of 6.6 for 23 overs is the equivalent of chasing 132 in a T20, which feels about right – an “okay” score if this had been a T20.

And thanks to T20 unspecialist Tammy Beaumont, England had it well within them, despite losing 3 wickets in the 5-over powerplay to the ever-deadly Marizanne Kapp.

South Africa 233-8 v England 153-4 (T: 152) #SAvENG 🏏

— CRICKETher (@crickether.com) 2024-12-11T20:17:08.090Z

With the powerplay done, Beaumont pressed on, playing positively but not recklessly. Hitting more into the ‘V’ than usual, she led a charge which pushed the run rate up beyond 8 an over in the post-powerplay phase, giving England the platform they needed to go on and win the game. A decent knock of 49* from Amy Jones at the other end took England over the line with a massive (in the context of a 23 over chase) 4 overs to spare.

England winning what was effectively a T20 chase, thanks to a player who isn’t even in their T20 squad, is perhaps not much to write home about, but it was nice to see someone actually step up on a tour which has seen more than its share of steps down, and give England fans something genuinely to cheer about.

“When Lauren Filer comes off, she can be a really dangerous bowler.”

Syd Egan, The CRICKETher Weekly – 8th December 2024

It’s fair to say that since she first burst onto the scene a couple of years ago, I’ve been a bit of a Lauren Filer sceptic. I don’t think I’ve been wholly negative – here’s a good example of me talking her up, even when she didn’t take any wickets in the 5th T20 in New Zealand earlier this year; and I really did say the above on this week’s CRICKETher Weekly – feel free to go check – it is around 6½ minutes in!!

Nonetheless, if you watched the show, recorded before yesterday’s 2nd ODI, and got the impression that we haven’t been overly convinced by her performances so far on this tour, that’s probably because… we haven’t been; and we try to call it as we see it.

So how silly do we look now, after Filer sent South African stumps flying during the powerplay in Durban? Maybe… a tad? There are certainly few more dramatic sights in cricket than poles cartwheeling out of the ground – it is one of those things that lives in the memory and can come to define a player.

Her pace is a big part of Filer’s impact, with her top bowling speeds hitting up above 78mph*. In some ways this isn’t massively quicker than (say) Ellyse Perry, bowling at more like 70-75mph, but actually the small margins can be a big deal in this case. When you are batting against quick bowling, 80mph is the point at which you can’t really “see” the ball any more – not in the way that most people “see” things – you have to anticipate and rely on your reflexes and instincts. So if you are pushing toward that 80mph mark, as Filer is, that is going to be a big point of difference, especially when there are only a couple of other bowlers doing that regularly.

Neither Tazmin Brits nor Sune Luus had any answers yesterday as Filer found the target during the powerplay, before also adding the wicket of Nonkululeko Mlaba – also bowled – in a later spell. South Africa did start to rebuild, and looked on track for making a respectable 230-250 at 68-2 at the end of the 15th over; before they suffered a collapse of 5 wickets for 4 runs with Charlie Dean completing a hat-trick across two overs to rip out South Africa’s middle order and leave Chloe Tryon playing the role of batting for pride that Dean herself had danced in the previous ODI.

Chasing a low total, England played pretty sensible cricket – it definitely wasn’t Jon-Ball. After 15 overs, England were 78-1, where South Africa had been 68-2. Maia Bouchier, whose career Strike Rate in ODI cricket is well over 100 (110, in fact) batted at well under 100, and Tammy Beaumont was content to plod along at 65, taking England to the point where they could put the foot down for a bit of a sprint finish, with Amy Jones hitting two 4s to get them home with just the 156 balls to spare.

So a topsy-turvy One Day series will go to the decider in Potchefstroom with both sides hoping to improve upon aspects of their performances so far – if we can get through a game without a horrendous batting collapse, it would be nice to see something a little more competitive to conclude the white-ball phase of this tour.

*Huge props to Hypocaust for gathering all the data on bowling speeds noted here.