England’s massive total of 373 proves a bridge too far for SA women

IF there was one over in this ICC Women’s World Cup contest that accurately reflected the gulf between these two teams it was the 40th over of the English innings.

South Africa’s captain Dane van Niekerk had called on her chief strike weapon Shabnim Ismail to come back and restrict the tournament hosts’ charge during the death overs. At the other end was England’s star batter Sarah Taylor, who admittedly was in fine form having just reached her sixth ODI century, waiting for the challenge.

Five consecutive sweetly-timed boundaries later from Taylor and South Africa were blown off the park.

To South Africa’s credit, they produced a spirited run-chase but England’s 373/5 was always going to be a bridge too far for the batters.

The match was lost in the field, where the Proteas’ much-hyped bowling attack simply failed to adjust to the conditions.

It was a near-perfect day with the sun blazing down on a hard surface tailor-made for stroke players such as Taylor (147 off 104 balls, 24x4) and Tammy Beaumont (148 off 145 balls, 22x4, 1x6). The English pair’s record 275 for the second wicket proved to be a match-winning contribution.

It will certainly be a learning experience for Van Niekerk, especially also in regards to field placing, and her bowling unit.

“Hindsight is not the best thing to have.

“I would probably have bowled myself and Sune (Loos) more, but we took too long to adapt to these conditions.” Van Niekerk said after the 68-run defeat.

South Africa are still well-placed to reach the semi-finals, but the champions Australia and India are still to come.