England vs South Africa: LIVE Women’s T20 World Cup result and reaction after Heather Knight’s side secure victory
England beat South Africa in their second Women’s T20 World Cup group game in Sharjah
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England took another step towards the semi-finals at the Women’s T20 World Cup with a strong win over South Africa.
After an opening win over Bangladesh on a slow surface, England’s spin quartet again made good use of a turning pitch in Sharjah as they strangled the South Africa batters. Sophie Ecclestone led the way with figures of 2/15 with Linsey Smith, Charlie Dean and Sarah Glenn once more impressing in support roles, limiting South Africa to 124/6 despite late hitting from Marizanne Kapp and Annerie Dercksen.
It never looked likely to be enough, despite a sluggish outfield, and Danni Wyatt-Hodge (43) ensured a solid platform was laid, eschewing her more expansive strokeplay to manage the chase well. The star turn with the bat came, though, fron Nat Sciver-Brunt, cruising to an unbeaten 48 to guide her side home to a second win from two games. England top Group B with games against Scotland and the West Indies to come.
Re-live all of the action from Sharjah in the blog below:
South Africa 31-0 (5) Wolvaardt 17, Brist 13, Dean 0-9 (2)
Brits scoops it going for the sweep and it’s been dropped by Sarah Glenn! It just fell out as she landed, but that’s a second drop already from England.
Another one from Charlie Dean that skids through and only narrowly missed the stumps. The final ball of the over is a riskier shot, hit up over the infield, but again it won’t reach the boundary and brings just two runs.
South Africa 28-0 (4) Wolvaardt 15, Brits 12, Sciver-Brunt 0-14 (2)
A new end for Sciver-Brunt who comes back into the attack. Brits tries to sweep the ball away but just manages to pick up a single.
Wolvaardt picks up another boundary, picking up the length early.
South Africa 20-0 (3) Wolvaard 9, Brits 10, Dean 0-6 (1)
After one over of seam, Nat Sciver-Brunt will be replaced by Charlie Dean.
The first three balls of her over is quite tight, cramping Brits for room. But she manages to ease the pressure with a boundary from the final ball of the over.
South Africa 14-0 (2) Wolvaardt 9, Brits 4, Smith 0-8 (1)
Wolvaardt does pick up her first boundary the first ball of Linsey Smith’s over, opening up well through extra cover and that one will cross the rope!
Brits works one away and adds another couple. England appeal for lbw against Brits, but the umpire is unmoved and Knight chooses not to appeal.
South Africa 6-0 (1) Wolvaardt 4, Brits 1, Sciver-Brunt 0-6 (1)
Nat Sciver-Brunt will open for England, who have kept the same team with the four spinners rather than opting for the additional seamer in Lauren Bell.
Amy Jones is standing up to the stumps, and the first ball is cut away by Wolvaardt and the throw is terrible allowing South Africa to get back for three. That ball just stopped before going over the boundary rope.
Drop! The next ball gets a bit of extra bounce and has been dropped by Knight at slip! It was a thick edge but she got almost a full hand to it.
England vs South Africa
The anthems are done and the match is about to get underway
England vs South Africa
Time for the national anthems, starting with South Africa.
England vs South Africa
England and South Africa are preparing to come out onto the field in Sharjah for their second T20 World Cup match.
England vs South Africa
Heather Knight: “I would’ve had a bat, too. But we know the conditions pretty well now, I think it’ll play pretty much the same.
“We bowled brilliantly [against Bangladesh] so we’ll be looking to do the same and set the tone tonight. It was tricky to bat here the other night so we’ve had a chat about how we go about things, we still want to play our brand of cricket but adjust it to these conditions.
“We’re excited to get going, it’ll be a tough test for us. History won’t play into it, we know they’re a quality side but their opening game was played in different conditions. We’ll have to play our best cricket to win.
“Our team is unchanged.”
How to watch England vs South Africa
England vs South Africa is due to start at 3pm BST on Monday 7 October at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
How can I watch it?
Viewers in the United Kingdom can watch the match live on Sky Sports Cricket, with coverage on the channel from 2.30pm BST. Subscribers can stream the action via Sky Go.
If you want to stream major sporting events while you are travelling or watching from abroad you’ll need a VPN. Get the best VPN deals in the UK. Viewers using a VPN need to make sure that they comply with any local regulations where they are, and also with the terms of their service provider.
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