England 395 for 9 dec and 31 for 1 lead South Africa 281 (Wolvaardt 65, Kapp 57, Luus 56, Bell 4-49) by 145 runs
Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus all scored half-centuries but none went on three figures as England took control of the one-off Test in Bloemfontein.
career-best 4 for 49, which included the first and second-last wickets of the innings, will steal the headlines but England’s seamers were collectively excellent and well deployed by captain Heather Knight. Lauren Filer operated in short, sharp bursts which allowed her to maintain good pace, debutant Ryana MacDonald-Gay made crucial breakthroughs with the old ball and Nat Sciver-Brunt was typically disciplined as South Africa failed to build on their decent starts.
Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen put on 92 for the second wicket and Kapp and Luus a South African record 99-run stand for the fourth, but there were no other stands higher than 25. They lost 7 for 44 in 14.4 overs which undid the good work from the first day, when they took 7 for 118 in England’s innings and survived a tricky end-of-day batting period to resume with all ten wickets in hand.
England got a breakthrough in the second over when Anneke Bosch played at a Bell delivery on fifth-stump and feathered an edge through to Amy Jones. That brought Dercksen to the crease, promoted to No. 3 after debuting at No. 8 against India earlier in the year, and she was peppered by short balls from Filer, bowling at good pace.
The fourth hit her the side of the helmet as she took her eyes off the ball and tried to get out of its way. Dercksen smiled as she was checked for concussion and provided the perfect riposte when she drove Bell through the covers in the next over. When Filer offered that length she got the same response. Wolvaardt meted out similar treatment to bring up South Africa’s fifty in the 14th over.
Ryana MacDonald-Gay appeals during her key old-ball spell•ECB/Getty Images
Nat Sciver-Brunt replaced Filer, whose first spell was seven overs long, and Dercksen could relax. She reeled off two strong bottom-handed drives but any level of comfort was short lived. Sciver-Brunt found her edge in the next over but it went wide of the slips and then Sophie Ecclestone took over.
At the other end, 20-year old MacDonald-Gay got her first opportunity with the ball and started well, with good shape into the right-hander. She squared Dercksen up in her fifth over, which earned the batter a streaky boundary. Wolvaardt looked far more assured as she pulled MacDonald-Gay through square leg to bring up the partnership fifty and then took the first runs off Ecclestone when she whipped her through midwicket. She brought up her own fifty off 99 balls, her second successive fifty-plus Test score.
With 15 minutes to go to the lunch interval, Filer was brought back for a short spell and continued to trouble Dercksen, who top-edged the third ball to fine leg on 33. Bell made good ground but shelled the chance. Three overs later, Filer found the same steep bounce and Dercksen tried to cut but top-edged again. Heather Knight, at second slip, jumped to take the catch and parried to Ecclestone, who held on the rebound. South Africa went to lunch on 113 for 2, having scored 96 runs in the morning session and 282 runs behind.
Luus resumed with Wolvaardt post-lunch and started watchfully. It was only when MacDonald-Gay and Filer went short that Wolvaardt and Luus took them on and England rectified their lengths quickly to dry up runs. South Africa scored 25 runs in 50 balls in the second session before Wolvaardt was stuck on the crease and hit on the pads by Ecclestone, who successfully appealed for lbw.
Marizanne Kapp batted through the middle session for South Africa•Gallo Images/Getty Images
Wolvaardt immediately indicated she had hit the ball but, with no DRS, could not review. This was the second incident in the match in which South Africa could have benefitted from a referral. On day one, Kapp was convinced she had Tammy Beaumont out lbw off the second ball of the match but was given not out. Umpire Kerrin Klaaste was the decision-maker on both occasions.
Kapp had to put that aside when she joined Luus and took on the more aggressive role. She sent Bell through the covers and past point and flicked Ecclestone fine and Charlie Dean through midwicket.