114/4 (15.0)
CR : 7.60
111/9 (20.0)
CR : 5.55
England Women won by 6 wickets 🏆
Player of the Match
Katherine Sciver-Brunt
4/15
14.5
0
S Ismail to A Jones
Length delivery outside the off stump, driven straight to extra cover.
14.6
4
S Ismail to A Jones
FOUR! Finishes it off in style! 102kph. Good length outside the off stump. Opens the face of the bat and runs it down to the vacant third man region for four runs! England win by six wickets! Terrific performance from Katherine Brunt and the youngster Sophia Dunkley!
Over 15
England Women 114/4
Amy Jones11(13)
Heather Knight24(18)
Shabnim Ismail0-29(3.0)
ENGW won by 6 wickets
Ovaise: Comprehensive victory for England, they outplayed South Africa in all 3 departments and have won the first t20 with 6 wickets in hand and 5 overs still remaining!! The hosts go up 1-0 in this 3-match t20 series!!
Earlier in the day, England won the toss and decided to bowl first. Katherine Brunt started off brilliantly with the ball. The right arm medium fast bowler struck in the very first over and sent Lara Goodall back to the dugout and dismissed the skipper (Sune Luus) too who didn’t trouble the scorers much. South Africa was struggling at 52/4 at the 10-over mark. Opener Anneke Bosch showed some resistance, but she too was dismissed for 18 and Laura Wolvaardt rescued her team from a terrible situation. She was the pick of the batters for the visitors, the right-hand batter scored 55 of just 49 deliveries and helped her team to get to a somewhat competitive total of 111!!
Katherine Brunt was the pick of the bowlers, she scalped 4 wickets and gave away just 17 runs!! Brunt is now the joint highest wicket-taker for England alongside Anya Shrubsole!! Sophie Ecclestone finished with 2-27. Nat Sciver and Sarah Glenn got a wicket each. At the halfway mark it looked like a simple chase!
Earlier in the day, England won the toss and decided to bowl first. Katherine Brunt started off brilliantly with the ball. The right arm medium fast bowler struck in the very first over and sent Lara Goodall back to the dugout and dismissed the skipper (Sune Luus) too who didn’t trouble the scorers much. South Africa was struggling at 52/4 at the 10-over mark. Opener Anneke Bosch showed some resistance, but she too was dismissed for 18 and Laura Wolvaardt rescued her team from a terrible situation. She was the pick of the batters for the visitors, the right-hand batter scored 55 of just 49 deliveries and helped her team to get to a somewhat competitive total of 111!!
Katherine Brunt was the pick of the bowlers, she scalped 4 wickets and gave away just 17 runs!! Brunt is now the joint highest wicket-taker for England alongside Anya Shrubsole!! Sophie Ecclestone finished with 2-27. Nat Sciver and Sarah Glenn got a wicket each. At the halfway mark it looked like a simple chase!
Sophia Dunkley started off brilliantly with the bat and made the total look very small, she was very aggressive from the get-go and did not let the bowlers settle in. She was accompanied by Danielle Wyatt who was dismissed on a duck by Khaka. The right-arm pacer was brilliant for South Africa with the ball, but she got no support from the other end which allowed England to chase this one with not much trouble. Dunkley played a match-winning knock of 59 (39). Natalie Sciver chipped in with 13 and Knight finished it off with 24 of 18, towards the end saw her team to victory!
Khaka finished with brilliant figures of 3-13 in her 4 overs. Anneke Bosch pick up a solitary wicket in the 1 over she bowled! All the other bowlers of South Africa went wicket-less and were seen bowling a lot of no balls as well. England have dominated the visitors in the first t20I and will look to improve on this performance in the next one!!
Sune Luus: "Having some extra 30-40 runs from Wolvaardt really helped. New roles for various players so we want to give them enough chances to get settled. We take a lot of positives from today."
Heather Knight: "Always nice to finish. It was a good game for us. Katherine was nice with the ball. Clinical performance. Brunt has got so much knowledge and experience which she is ready to pass it on to the youngsters which is nice. Dunkley was impressive at the top. She is a clean striker of the ball and it's a new role for her and it will take time to adjust. We really want to make the full use of powerplay overs and we have the strength to bat well in the middle order. Really nice after a tough winter to get some easy wins. We need to keep going with the same intent. It will take a little bit of time but we have put up some really clinical performances. Main goal for the series is to be ready for the Commonwealth. We want to get all the players in the best place and we might rest some players."
Katherine Brunt is the player of the match.
Katherine Brunt: "I feel older. I was very very keen to make an impact in this series. The last three months were difficult and finding form at the right time has been difficult. I've been working really hard with Tim McDonald our bowling coach. When you get older, you get questioned a lot so I had to change my mentality and I still feel I've got it and I'll keep going for England as long as I can. The last time I was on around 99 wickets in ODIs, I was there for a long time so I am very happy to make that mark. I can sleep well tonight and I feel I still have got some more in me. Wong is an incredible cricketer. She wants to learn and absorbs everything. She will go far in this game and she wants to, I believe in her 100%."
2:30 AM IST: South Africa has had a day to forget, they were poor in all the 3 departments!! They will look to wipe this off their memory and come up with fresh plans in the next t20I, England on the other hand will be delighted with this victory and will be looking to continue with the good form the team is in! That's it from us, I am Ovaise Shariff signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Ninaad Dixit and scorer/analyst Paras. Hope you enjoyed the coverage. Goodbye and Goodnight!!