On a day that was interrupted by a three-hour delay for rain and lightning, and was marred by a worrying first-over back injury for their senior seamer Kate Cross,  England overcame a stiff DLS-adjusted target of 152 in 23 overs to win at a canter – with four overs to spare, thanks to Beaumont’s fifth-wicket stand of 90 in 63 balls with Amy Jones  who finished unbeaten on 49 from 36.

Having at one stage been resigned to a washout as the conditions closed in, England were forced to win it the hard way, after Marizanne Kapp ‘s  haul of 3 for 24 in five overs included two massive scalps in her opening over: Maia Bouchier, caught at midwicket third-ball for 4, and Nat Sciver-Brunt, who mistimed a cut to point for a second-ball duck.

When Kapp then bowled Heather Knight with a snorter in her third over, England were floundering at 25 for 3. But Beaumont, showcasing the even temperament that still makes her such a prized asset in ODI and Test cricket, refused to be cowed by a climbing run-rate. She found key support, initially from Danni Wyatt-Hodge, who made 22 from 16 balls, and latterly Jones, and the result was effectively sealed when Kapp’s final two overs were repelled with the asking rate already dipping below a run a ball.

The win handed England a 2-1 win in the ODI leg of their multi-format tour, having lost the opening match by the same six-wicket margin in Kimberley last week, and put the seal on their overall series win ahead of Sunday’s Test in Bloemfontein, having already taken the T20I leg in a 3-0 whitewash.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, England restricted South Africa to 233 for 8 in their 50 overs, although they were made to work for their breakthroughs – principally by Laura Wolvaardt,  South Africa’s captain, who cemented her status as the ICC’s No.1-ranked ODI batter with a sparkling innings of 61 from 68 balls, studded with a range of her trademark cover drives.

Their task was not helped, however, by a troubling incident in the opening over, when Cross – following through after bowling her fifth ball – slumped to the turf in visible pain. She was helped from the field by the physio, with Alice Capsey bowling the final ball of her over, and was later revealed to have suffered a back spasm, which may leave her role in the Test match in some doubt.

England had already chosen to rest their fastest bowler, Lauren Filer, after her telling breakthroughs in the second ODI, which left their seam-bowling duties in the hands of Lauren Bell and Nat Sciver-Brunt. Wolvaardt took the initiative in the first ten overs, adding 50 for the first wicket with Lara Goodall, one of four changes to South Africa’s line-up.

Bell, however, made the first breakthrough in the final over of the powerplay, when Goodall lofted a length ball to mid-on just moments after a firm clip for four off her pads. And not for the first time in this series, South Africa were culpable in their subsequent slide.

Anneka Bosch, another change to the line-up, grew into her role with three lusty hits down the ground before driving too loosely through the line off Capsey – on whom Heather Knight had been forced to rely in Cross’s absence. One over later, South Africa’s sturdy start was looking wobbly at 107 for 3, as Sophie Ecclestone skidded a flat trajectory into Wolvaardt’s pad, and extracted the on-field lbw verdict despite ball-tracker confirming it was a marginal leg-sided call.

On 14, Nadine de Klerk reacted too slowly to Kapp’s call for a quick single into the covers, and was beaten by Bouchier’s sharp return to Jones, while Annerie Dercksen’s guilty glance at the umpire arguably sealed her fate when Charlie Dean pinned her lbw for 13 – another decision that was shown to be clipping the bails.

At 156 for 5 with 18 overs to come, Kapp and Chloe Tryon had the power and poise to provide the big finish. But both batters fell for two runs in the space of nine balls – Kapp to a misjudged launch to long-on off Capsey for 19, and Tryon to a rush of blood at the end of Ecclestone’s eighth over, as she gave her the charge to be stumped for 20.

Masabata Klaas then spooned a limp drive to mid-off to depart for a seven-ball duck, but England’s hopes of a quick kill at 201 for 8 were thwarted by Mieke de Ridder and Nonkululeko Mlaba, who batted out the final 45 balls of the innings to eke out a handy 32-run stand. While Kapp was blowing away England’s top-order, those runs looked crucial. But Beaumont and Jones had other plans.

Brief scores:

England Women 153 for 4 in 19 overs  (Tammy Beaumont 65*, Amy Jones 49*; Marizanne Kapp 3-24) beat South Africa Women 233 for 8 in 50 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 61, Marizanne Kapp 38; Alice Capsey 2-59, Charlie Dean 2-52, Sophie Ecclestone 2-26) by six wickets – DLS

(Cricinfo)