England have won their first Test in 10 years and as many matches by beating South Africa by 286 ruLauren ns in Bloemfontein. They dismissed South Africa for 64 in their second innings, their lowest Test total after setting them a target of 351.

Lauren Bell, who registered a career-best 4 for 49 in the first innings, rewrote her own record and picked up 4 for 27 to finish with a player-of-the-match haul of 8 for 76. Lauren Filer and Sophie Ecclestone were also among the wickets as England bowled South Africa out in 19.4 overs to win inside three days.

South Africa’s dismal batting overshadowed the good work they’d done with the ball, particularly the performance of left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.  She became the first South African to take 10 wickets in a women’s Test and is now South Africa’s second leading wicket taker in the format. South Africa may have time to reflect on that once the dust has settled on their massive defeat. Theirs was the third largest by runs in women’s Tests.

England’s win was set up by a captain’s knock from Heather Knight, who scored her sixth Test half-century. She fell 10 short of a third hundred as she anchored an England innings in which most of the middle-order got starts but only she converted. Her most profitable partnership was a third-wicket stand of 67 with Nat Sciver Brunt which was three runs more than South Africa’s second-innings total. They had only one partnership worth 20 and six in single figures, while only ten batters made it to the middle after Avanda Hlubi was ruled out of the match with a torn hip flexor.

By the time she would have been needed, all the damage was done. South Africa lost their openers in the 5.2 overs they faced before tea, both lbw. Laura Wolvaardt was caught on the back foot by a delivery that seamed in from Bell and, after being on the receiving end of a poor first-innings dismissal, she could not complain about this one.

Anneke Bosch had slightly more reason to be unhappy. She was given out to Filer, to one that kept low and could have been missing leg. But the biggest talking point took place after the break when Bell appealed for a catch off Annerie Dercksen at short leg. It was not immediately given out and the umpires referred, despite the explicit absence of DRS for this contest, before Dercksen was sent on her way.

Bell continued to find movement and bowled Sune Luus through the gate. Nadine de Klerk was run out for a pair, and when Chloe Tryon was lbw to an Ecclestone arm-ball, also for a duck, England were into the tail. South Africa’s starts with Sinalo Jafta at No.8 and she too went without scoring, pinned on the pads by Bell’s inswinger, to leave the innings in tatters at 44 for 7. Three overs later, Marizanne Kapp, their last remaining batter, was wonderfully scooped up by Beaumont at silly point without addition, and the end came quickly.

Earlier, South Africa would have been fairly pleased with their work with ball in hand. De Klerk and Tumi Sekukhune started well and were disciplined upfront. They gave away only 12 runs in the first six overs, with Sekhukhune removing Beaumont for 12, lbw to an inswinger. On this occasion, the absence of DRS proved no problem as she looked out, and was given.

Sekhukhune was replaced by Dercksen, but then South Africa went for double spin with Mlaba at one end and Tryon at the other. Given the turn on offer and amount Mlaba gets, she was expected to be a threat and should have had a wicket in her fourth over when Sciver-Brunt edged as she lunged forward to block but Jafta could not hold on to the chance. Sciver-Brunt, on 19 at the time, went on to hit Mlaba for three fours in the over and the floodgates opened.

Mlaba got Sciver-Brunt when she chopped on after a delivery kept low, but that only brought Danni Wyatt-Hodge to the crease, with her penchant for finding runs behind square on the off side. She rattled along to a run-a-ball 23, before slicing Sekhukhune to the fielder at deep third. Amy Jones then partnered Knight, who had reached her fifty off 99 balls, to lunch, to end a successful session. Despite England’s slow start to the morning session, they scored a total of 136 runs in the 27 overs bowled before lunch, at a rate of just over five runs to the over.

Mlaba switched ends post lunch and had success from the Willows End. Amy Jones got a leading edge to Wolvaardt in the covers, minutes before it was announced that the South African skipper had earned a demerit point for expressing “excessive disappointment” when she was given out lbw in the first innings.

She had reason to keep being pleased in the field though. Mlaba picked up a third when Charlie Dean flicked her to short mid-wicket, and though Knight moved into the 80s with a strong sweep off Sune Luus, that shot would prove her undoing. One over after Sophie Ecclestone had fallen in the same fashion to Mlaba, Knight was beaten by a ball that turned into her and struck her on the pad. Of course, she could not review.

Ryana MacDonald-Gay was bowled through the bat-pad gap to become Mlaba’s 10th wicket. England’s innings ended with half an hour to go before the tea break. They only needed 69 minutes after that interval to end the match.

Brief scores:
England Women 395 for 9 dec in 92 overs ( Maia Bouchier 126, Nat Sciver Brunt 128;  Ayanda Hlubi 2-40, Nonkululeko Mlaba 4-90) and236 in 74.1 overs (Heather Knight 90, Nat Sciver Brunt 37;  Nonkululeko Mlaba 6-67, Tumi Sekhukune 2-35) beat  South Africa Women 281 in 88.4 overs  (Laura Wolvaardt 65, Marizanne Kapp 57, Sune Luus 56; Lauren  Bell 4-49, Lauren Filer 2-53, Ryana MacDonald Gay 2-50) and 64 in 19.4 overs (Marizanne Kapp 21; Bell 4-27, Sophie Ecclestone 2-07) by 286 runs

[Cricinfo]

West Indies levelled the T20I series in style, with captain Hayley Mathews at the forefront of a robust batting performance in a nine-wicket thrashing. Matthews hit an unbeaten 85, courtesy 17 fours, just four less than India’s 21, to help West Indies break a sequence of nine straight T20I losses to India.

Matthews’ brilliance helped cover for a shoddy fielding display in which Oiana Joseph, who also fuelled the chase with 38, put down India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana once, one of three lives she got on the night. However, India’s 159 for 9, in the face of dew and some serious batting muscle in the opposition, was never going to be enough.

India’s inexperienced top order left them wobbling. Deandra Dottin castled Uma Chetry with an in-ducker for 4. Afy Fletcher, who went for 39 in her four overs two nights ago, had debutant Raghvi Bist lbw for 5. In between these two strikes, Jemimah Rodrigues fell attempting to get inside the line and paddle. At 48 for 3 in the ninth over, West Indies had India on the ropes.

India received a massive fillip thanks to some West Indian generosity; they dropped Mandhana three times – twice by Chinelle Henry – between overs 11 to 14. Mandhana would soon run out of luck, though, in the 14th over, but not before raising a second straight half-century, off 37 balls. Between those dropped catches, India hit six fours and a six in a two-over period that fetched 36, going from 72 for 3 in 12 overs to 108 for 4 in 14.

If overs 12 to 14 produced boundaries, the next two applied the skids as West Indies removed Deepti and S Sajana. But Richa Ghosh cut, pulled and flat-batted the spinners to race to 32 off 16. Just as she raised hopes of a sparkling half-century, she was sent back by a flying Shemaine Campbelle behind the stumps, caught as she attempted to scythe Dottin’s yorker.

Then, in the final over, Dottin showed off her athleticism in running at least 20 yards around the long-on fence to pull off a stunning catch on the move to dismiss Radha Yadav.

Joseph made up for her fielding lapses by laying into rookie Titas Sadhu to kickstart the chase. Her fast hands and clean slogging brought her three fours and a six in an 18-run second over. Renuka Singh then came in for punishment as Joseph muscled a monstrous six in a 14-run over. The openers brought up a half-century opening stand inside five overs. Saima Thakor picked up her first T20I wicket when she deceived Joseph with a back-of-the-hand slower ball in the seventh over, but by then the base had been laid with a 66-run stand.

That was to be India’s only moment of comfort on the field as Matthews quickly took charge to raise a 31-ball half-century in an over when she despatched left-armer Radha Yadav for four back-to-back fours. India managed 21 fours and a six in their entire innings. West Indies had matched that boundary count by the 13th over itself to make it one-way traffic. The series couldn’t have been levelled with a more emphatic chase.

Brief scores:
West Indies Women  160 for 1 in 15.4 overs (Hayley Matthews 85*, Oiana Joseph 38, Shemaine Campbelle 29*; Saima Thakor 1-28 ) beat India Women 159 for 9 in 20 overs  (Smriti Mandhana 62, Richa gosh 32; Deandra Dottin 2-14, Chinelle Henry 2-37, Hayley Mathews 2-36, Afy Fletcher 2-28) by nine wickets

[Cricinfo]