Proteas women collapse puts England on top in one-off Test

A dismal collapse from the Proteas women put England into the driving seat as they reached the close of play on day two on 31/1 in their second innings, holding a lead of 145 runs in the one-off Test at Mangaung Oval in Bloemfontein on Monday.

Proteas fast bowler Ayanda Hlubi picked up the only English wicket towards the end of play, having opener Maia Bouchier caught behind by keeper Sinalo Jafta for a 19-ball duck, but Tammy Beaumont (8no) and captain Heather Knight (19no) will start in a great position on the third morning.

Earlier in the day, half-centuries from captain Laura Wolvaardt (65), Sune Luus (56) and Marizanne Kapp (57) had helped put the Proteas into a strong position on 237/3, only for them to lose their last seven wickets for 44 runs to crash to 281 all out, giving England a 114-run lead.

The Proteas will be bitterly disappointed with their innings, after they had shown real fight to get themselves into a position to seriously challenge England’s big first score of 395-9 declared towards the end of day one.

Proteas women frustrated

They will also be frustrated with none of their batters being able to kick onto a big score, like England’s first innings centurions Bouchier and Nat Sciver-Brunt, as Annerie Dercksen (41) and Chloe Tryon (20) also managed to get decent starts before falling.

Wolvaardt can be the only batter to feel really hard done by after she was given out LBW to Sophie Ecclestone, despite her indicating she got an inside edge, but with no DRS available for the match she was unable to review and had to walk.

She shared in a solid 92-run second wicket partnership with Dercksen, who then fell on the stroke of lunch edging a widish ball from Lauren Filer to Ecclestone at slip with the score 113/2.

After Wolvaardt departed shortly after the lunch break, Luus and Kapp combined for a Proteas record 99-run fourth wicket stand to set a superb platform.

But once Kapp fell during the final session, shortly before a 40-minute delay due to lightning, it started an unstoppable slide, assisted by England pace bowler Lauren Bell who almost claimed a hattrick, on her way to figures of 4/49.