England 150 for 3 (Taylor 41*) beat South Africa 196 (Chetty 90, Shrubsole 4-29) by seven wickets (DLS method)
Scorecard
Anya Shrubsole removed the South Africa top order © Gallo Images
Four wickets for Anya Shrubsole and an unbeaten 41 from Sarah Taylor were the major components of England’s seven-wicket win over South Africa in Benoni, giving new coach Mark Robinson victory in his first match in charge.
England’s innings was twice interrupted by rain, with their target eventually revised down to 150 in 35 overs after South Africa had made 196 having chosen to bat first. Amy Jones helped get England’s chase off to a brisk start, hitting six fours in 34 from 27 balls, but she and fellow opener Lauren Winfield fell before the weather closed in with the score on 63 for 2.
The target was cut to 194 in 48 overs and England lost captain Charlotte Edwards for 33 before lightning and further rain sent the players off again. On the resumption, Taylor and Heather Knight saw England home with 39 balls to spare.
South Africa’s total was based around 90 from opener Trisha Chetty but she did not find enough support from her team-mates. Chetty, who was dropped twice off Katherine Brunt, put on 93 for the second wicket with captain Mignon du Preez but from 119 for 1 they subsided during the final 20 overs to be dismissed with four deliveries left spare.
Shrubsole returned to get du Preez for 38 and bagged the first four wickets to fall with her testing inswingers. South Africa lost 5 for 40 before No. 8 Sune Luus provided some resistance but when Knight had Chetty caught behind ten short of a maiden century, the hosts’ hopes of a more imposing total disappeared.
The last four wickets fell for 14 in 23 balls as Jenny Gunn and Rebecca Grundy cleaned up the tail before the batsmen avoided major hiccups to put England 1-0 up in the three-match series. Victory also gave England a valuable two points in the ICC Women’s Championship, drawing them level with South Africa in fourth.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo