England stunned in World Cup opener
Du Preez guides South Africa to shock T20 win Pressure on favourites after poor batting show
So much for the luck of the draw. England, it was widely assumed, had the gentler group in the T20 World Cup. But a disorientating end to South Africa’s run chase – replete with a dropped catch, overthrows, an umpire decision review system call, a missed stumping and even a Mankad warning – ended with their first-ever victory over England in the competition.
In an electric start to the event, the pre-tournament favourites, Australia and England, have now both lost their maiden games.
After mustering only 123 for eight in Perth, England needed to summon all their skill and character to challenge South Africa’s grip on the game. When Sophie Ecclestone yielded just one run and removed captain Dane van Niekerk in the 17th over, South Africa needed 33 from just 18 balls, with two new batters at the crease.
It was a position from which England would have expected to snatch an unlikely victory. Instead, they suffered from bad luck – the next ball went for four byes when it could easily have bowled Mignon du Preez – and their own mistakes. At long on, Lauren Winfield misjudged a chance from Chloe Tryon, and Amy Jones missed a stumping chance off Tryon in the next over.
So it all came down to the final over, with South Africa needing nine to win – or eight to put fans through the ordeal of a super over. It was a situation that seemed made for Katherine Brunt, who began the over with a yorker and conceded just two from her first two balls.
Du Preez marked becoming the first South African woman to play 100 T20s for her country by scything the third ball of Brunt’s over past square leg for six, to take the scores level, and then thumping the next delivery through a similar area to seal victory.
“A brilliant game of cricket, credit to South Africa, they played well,” England captain Heather Knight said after the defeat. “Quite a tight game, so that will take a lot out of us – we’ve got to park it and move on quickly as we’ve got a game in Canberra in a couple of days. There are a lot of teams that can win this World Cup, every team has match-winners.”
That being true, this defeat was even more worrying following a 10-wicket thrashing by Sri Lanka in England’s last warm-up game.
Knight was unambiguous about where the game had been won and lost. “Not too many panic stations – we know we didn’t get enough with the bat.”
It was hard to refute her analysis. Whatever the helter-skelter denouement, England will reflect that they lost the game with the bat. Their total – one more than the 122 for nine they managed against Sri Lanka – had the feel of being 15 short of par. Indeed, England have defended such a small total only five times in their T20 history – and once since 2012, as average scores have increased.
Only towards the end of Nat Sciver’s sprightly 50 did England threaten to get a score that would do any justice to the talents of their batting line-up. While Jones began in enterprising mood, England stalled against South Africa’s fine trio of seamers, slipping to 43 for three in the ninth over.
The rebuild was slow. The fourth-wicket pair of Sciver and Fran Wilson took 6.2 overs to add 29, which jarred with England’s stated mantra of packing their batting so they could keep attacking during the middle overs. Though Sciver accelerated, with a scoop among her six boundaries, the big finish never came. England took a meagre 19 from their last 15 balls as Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka and Marizanne Kapp kept it tight at the death.
It was a performance that invited scrutiny of England’s tactics. Certainly, using Tammy Beaumont at No7 felt like a waste. She has scored two centuries in her past four ODI innings, and hit a 52ball 116 opening in a Twenty20 against South Africa in 2018. The rationale for using her as a finisher is clear when England are chasing, but giving her only the final 14 balls of the innings at the crease felt selfdefeating.
Whatever changes England are to make in personnel or tactics, they will need to set upon them fast. England now face needing to win their last three games – beginning against Thailand on Wednesday – to reach the semi-finals. Already their final group game, against the West Indies on Sunday, has the look of a de facto quarter-final.