major events
9th over: England 38-0 (Beaumont 15, Boucher 18) Kapp is relieved, replaced by Aneri Derksen. She sends her outswingers down and is on the money, bowling a much-needed first over for South Africa.
8th over: England 38-0 (Beaumont 15, Boucher 18) Hlubi bowled wide of the crease, called Beaumont to play and missed out. Then comes the LBW appeal, Beaumont gives no shot as the ball hits his trousers. But the ball was probably still missing from the off stump. Hlubi really holds his own now, as he gets a nip-backer to stay low against Boucher, who threatens to cut him in half. But Boucher won the final battle, hitting a boundary through midwicket to end the over.
7th over: England 33-0 (Beaumont 14, Boucher 14) Bouchier punched Kapp off the back foot through cover-point for a couple; The opener is taking a good look at it, unperturbed on his red-ball bow.
6th over: England 29-0 (Beaumont 14, Boucher 10) Hlubi starts off by bowling very straight, with the ball swinging towards the leg side, before moving towards the off-stump channel again. Boucher turned the ball inside out for a run.
5th over: England 28-0 (Beaumont 14, Boucher 9) A good over from Kapp was slightly wasted on the final ball, with Beaumont taking four through cover.
Fourth over: England 24-0 (Beaumont 10, Boucher 9) It’s blistering hot in Bloemfontein as Hlubi finds his zone after testing Boucher’s forward defense after a poor first over. There is a mix-up between the two batsmen as Boucher clips it at square leg (yes-no etc); They decide against the run and the throw onto the striker’s stumps is a foul anyway.
Third over: England 20-0 (Beaumont 10, Boucher 9) Finding a hint of swing through the air, Cap continued to threaten Beaumont’s front pad. The openers exchanged singles.
Second over: England 18-0 (Beaumont 9, Boucher 8) Ayanda Hlubi flew in from the other end and Boucher collected his first Test run with a brilliant on-drive for four. A low fulltoss is then flicked down the leg side to the second boundary; England are racing against the red ball.
1st over: England 9-0 (Beaumont 8, Bouchier 0) South Africa’s leading all-rounder Marizanne Kapp opens with the ball against Tammy Beaumont…the batsman immediately sends the ball across her pads to the boundary. The cup then hits the pad and it looks plumb! But somehow the finger doesn’t go up and Kapp can’t believe it. And here’s the annoying part: There is no DRS in this matchBeaumont hits another four to achieve this. An eventful start.
National anthem is playing. On the other side of the world, another England Test team is having a bit of a problem with its bat.
the teams
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Anneke Bosch, Anne Derksen, 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, Danny Wyatt-Hodge, Amy Jones (wk), Charlie Dean, Sophie Ecclestone, Rhianna McDonald-Gay, Lauren Filer, Lauren Bell
Maia Boucher is England’s second debutant in this format, joining Tammy Beaumont at the top.
England won the toss and decided to bat first
Heather Knight makes the right call. She confirmed the absence of Kate Cross, who suffered back spasms in the third ODI. That means a Test debut for 20-year-old Rhianna McDonald-Gay.
Preface
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to a little piece of history. South Africa Women are set to play their first Test match at home since March 2002. It’s been a long time.
The wait is over in Bloemfontein, as Heather Knight’s team aims to take the lead in all formats on this tour. England won the T20 3-0, ODI 2-1, and a red-ball win would finish things off nicely before heading off to the Ashes.
The Women’s Test remains a recurring event, with the main battleground still being white-ball, with no domestic long-term scene to prepare these two sides for the competition. A win by either team will end the long drought. England have not won a red-ball game since January 2014, with four defeats and five draws in the nine matches since then. South Africa has won only one match in its history, against the Netherlands in 2007.
Write to me with all your ideas, questions, Sunday plans, whatever you want. And here’s a blast to enjoy…from the chart of March 2002.