England claimed a comprehensive 286-run victory in the one-off Test at Bloemfontein after rolling South Africa over for 64 in their second innings – their lowest total in women’s Tests.
The success is England’s first Test win in more than a decade – the last came against Australia at Perth in January 2014 – and Heather Knight’s first as captain (she had previously presided over four draws and two defeats).
Knight fell 10 runs short of a third Test century in the afternoon session, trapped lbw by Nonkululeko Mlaba, but this result will surely delight her just as much as reaching that personal milestone would have – especially with an Ashes Test at the MCG only six weeks away.
“We’ll go to Australia with a lot of confidence and belief in what we do as a side,” Knight said. “It was a really important tour for us, coming off the back of that disappointment at the World Cup. To come away from home, only lose one game, win both white-ball series and win a Test is a monumental effort.”
South Africa had fought hard in the first two sessions to bowl England out for 236, but the evening session witnessed a staggering collapse.
Lauren Bell, the player of the match, added four more wickets to take her match tally to eight, beginning the South Africa funeral-procession by trapping Laura Wolvaardt lbw, as she once again used her new wobble-ball to great effect. “Performances like that give me a lot of confidence that I’m moving in the right direction,” Bell said.
Less than two hours later, Bell ran out Mlaba with a direct hit from mid-off to wrap up the innings, and the match. The fact that Mlaba was short of her ground only because she didn’t bother to ground her bat was a telling sign of the demoralised state of the South Africa camp.
It was a disappointing end to a day in which the left-arm spinner had earlier become the first South African to take 10 wickets in a women’s Test – the instrument of an England collapse of their own in which they lost their last six wickets for 54 runs, courtesy of some reckless shot-play across the line. Marizanne Kapp could not bowl due to workload management, while the seamer Ayanda Hlubi was ruled out with a hip injury, but Mlaba gamely shouldered the load. The problem was that England’s lead already extended to 350 by the time they were all out half an hour before tea: the highest successful fourth innings run-chase in women’s Tests is just 198.
With the pressure on, four of the South African batters fell lbw: in the absence of DRS, that placed the spotlight firmly on the umpires. But perhaps the most controversial moment was when Annerie Dercksen appeared to bat-pad an obviously clean catch to Tammy Beaumont at short leg, and the umpires sent the decision upstairs, sparking widespread confusion. According to Knight, the referral related to whether it had been a bump ball but South Africa’s coach, Mandla Mashimbyi, said he was baffled by it: “There was no communication and I didn’t understand why. It was quite bizarre.”
The concern is that Cricket South Africa may review the result, rue the controversy, and conclude that future women’s Tests are not worth the risk. Mashimbyi, though, said he was “passionate” about the format: “DRS is above my pay grade, but I will make sure that we expose our players to more red-ball stuff.”
In any case, England’s raucous celebrations are testament to the fact that Test cricket matters for women as much as for men. “The girls are absolutely buzzing,” Knight said. “To do what we did today is very special.”
