First ODI, Kimberley
England 186 (38.4 overs): Dean 47* (57); Dercksen 3-16
South Africa 189-4 (38.2 overs): Wolvaardt 59* (114), De Klerk 48* (28)
South Africa won by six wickets; lead series 1-0
Six wickets for six for England, who had performed badly in the opening one day international against South Africa.
Seeking 187 in sweltering Kimberley, Proteas batswoman Laura Wolvaardt set the tone with an unsparing 59 off 114 balls and the score is at 11.4 overs.
England bowlers huffed and puffed and only to regret getting Wolvaardt five and 27 while the captain kept the innings going, before Nadine de Klerk’s exciting 48 from 28 balls gave them the win.
The ball was slippery and had plenty of off-centre bounce, but England batsmen wasted their time as they were dismissed for 186 in 38.4 overs.
The eighth man Charlie Dean salvaged the innings with 47 not out after England went 107-7, he was joined by Sophie Ecclestone for 67.
South Africa got their man with the return of all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, rested for the previous T20 series and a new-ball blast that saw her pick England’s opening three wickets.
Sophia Dunkley joined the order on the upper end after Maia Bouchier strained her neck in the warm-up and was lbw for four before Tammy Beaumont was lbw for 11 and Nat Sciver-Brunt was lbw for a duck.
Heather Knight’s 40 gave a spark before Dean and Ecclestone got the last laugh, with Dean matching her career-high of 17 as her partner was stunningly caught by De Klerk.
South Africa batters too fell aplenty in their attempts to add runs, but survived the spinner Ecclestone by being cautious through her cruell 0-29, with Wolvaardt’s willingness to pound the ball to his left.
The second of three ODIs is played in Durban on Sunday.
Frenetic England struggle to adapt
England had been so good in the T20s against a depleted South Africa and they would have a better test in the ODIs after the return of Kapp and seamer Ayabonga Khaka.
Kapp gave her team just what they needed after an opening volley from the front, and she was a master swerver, never messing up from a long line and length that England’s back six couldn’t manage.
Dunkley smelled wastefully off stump, Beaumont trotted down the middle and went round a straight one, Sciver-Brunt was stuck plumb lbw on her third delivery.
After Danni Wyatt-Hodge was also inside the area to go for 11 by De Klerk, and Amy Jones got caught on the edge to go for 21, Knight played on the slow surface, late and waiting for the ball.
But a smart South African replay had England’s captain dismissed for a missed sweep, after there had been only a whiff of protest on the field.
England were 91-6 at stumps, and Wolvaardt looked to get one wrong when she skipped over Kapp, who had six more overs in hand, and continued to bowl her spinners due to the irregular bounce.
But Dean and Ecclestone seemed comfortable with switching the strike for the most sensible line play England got.
South Africa did drift some but grew up and coiled the tail on the spot with Dean hanging off just short of her fifty.
Unthreatening England thwarted by Wolvaardt
Wolvaardt’s T20 run-scorer but women’s ODI run-scorer of the year, not bowling as well as usual, on a pitch where she was not able to bowl as well as she normally does, she gave England’s batters an exercise in application.
She struck 92 ball for her slowest ODI fifty, but was never really thrown by her batsmen who made it easier on her with their contributions, including 27 from Annerie Dercksen who is 3-16 with the bat, Kapp scoring a run-a-ball 22 and De Klerk’s attacking spell of 11 fours.
But England’s problem is they are not very creative in this format. They squeezed Wolvaardt by bowling straight and ended her favourite hits in the off side but she did not mind blocking when called for.
If that failed, they were stuck and, while the pitch was bouncy for seamers Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer in the early going, they were too far off-pitch to take advantage of its help like Kapp.
Even the fielding is a worry. Jones unusually one-handed in goal behind from Wolvaardt and Dunkley made it simple at the square leg try line when the Proteas skipper missed an odd Ecclestone full on the way over.
England are just getting their foot back into ODI cricket after a feast of short format cricket and with Ashes on the cards against world champions Australia, they will need these to develop a better recipe here in the remaining two games.
Kapp does just that – response
Player of the Match, South Africa all-rounder Marizanne Kapp: “The other bowlers that stepped up were good too. We’re happy to get a win to carry over to the remainder of the series.”
England captain Heather Knight: “Obviously disappointed but there was some good in there. ‘The duo of Charlie [Dean] and Sophie [Ecclestone] got us going, unfortunately not enough.
“We thought if we got two wickets then we had some chance. But Nadine [de Klerk] pitched a monster and shut it down really quickly.
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt: “Marizanne Kapp is a difference maker for our team so glad she’s back and glad to get the win.
‘I was happy with my 50. That was not my best inning but it’s my job to stay there till the last so I’m glad I did”.