England romped home with a 10-wicket win in their World Cup opener on Friday, after dismissing South Africa for 69 in 20.4 overs – the third lowest total in their history.
South Africa have been a force to be reckoned with in global women’s cricket of late, reaching the final of the T20 World Cup last year and the semi-finals of the last 50-over competition, so this was a baffling and embarrassing display. Only one batter, wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta, made it into double figures, and six of their lineup were clean bowled on a good pitch which rarely behaved unpredictably.
In reply, England’s new-look opening partnership of Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones made short work of the chase, wrapping up the match with 215 balls remaining – their first World Cup win secured in just under three hours. Perhaps more importantly in what could be a tight round-robin competition, England’s net run rate is now a more-than-healthy 3.77.
Linsey Smith, who won the player of the match award, described England’s start to the tournament as a “confidence booster”, adding: “We’re not going to get too carried away, but we’ll take it to the next game for sure.”
Smith, who broke into England’s ODI team only in May this year, admitted she had felt the pressure after an eve-of-game conversation with the coach, Charlotte Edwards, in which she was told she would be opening the bowling.
But after England won the toss and inserted South Africa, it was Smith’s opening spell that set the tone, the left-arm spinner achieving a remarkable return of 4-2-7-3 in her first 50-over World Cup match. She took a smart return catch to see off South Africa’s captain, Laura Wolvaardt, before drifting the ball in to rattle the stumps of Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp.
View image in fullscreen England's Linsey Smith (right) celebrates the dismissal of South Africa's Marizanne Kapp with teammate Charlie Dean. Photograph: Anupam Nath/AP
“We kept it simple today,” Smith said. “I’m not your most traditional spinner. I’m not going to get the turn and bounce that Sophie [Ecclestone] gets, which is why we work together well in the team. I’m not the tallest, so I won’t get much bounce.
“ The conversation I had with Nat [Sciver-Brunt] and Lottie [Edwards] was about doing what I’ve done well over the years in domestic cricket, and that’s try to hit the stumps and put pressure on the batters that way. That paid off well today.”
Sciver-Brunt, the captain, brought herself on as first change and enjoyed a dream return to international bowling, trapping Anneke Bosch leg-before with her first ball since January’s Ashes series. In her next over, Chloe Tryon sent up a tame leading edge to Alice Capsey at mid-on, as South Africa sank to 38 for six within the opening 11 overs. Given Sciver-Brunt’s slow return to bowling fitness over the past nine months, there had been some debate as to how many overs she might manage in this match, with England opting to play both Capsey and Emma Lamb partly to ensure there were back-up bowling options.
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But three overs were all that was required of Sciver-Brunt, while Capsey and Lamb both went unused, a combination of Ecclestone and Charlie Dean neatly finishing off the South African tail.
Heather Knight, returning after a lengthy battle with a hamstring injury, looked raring to go. She was not required with the bat on this occasion, but did hold on to a sharp shoulder-height catch at slip which put an end to Nadine de Klerk.
Wolvaardt looked shellshocked after the match, telling Sky Sports: “This team has shown a lot of resilience in the past. We’ve got a long tournament ahead of us, and we’ll be looking to put this behind us as quickly as we can. In a tournament like this, you’ve got to have a really short memory.”
England’s fielding – so often under the spotlight these days – was barely tested here. Instead it was South Africa who fumbled the chance to run out Jones early on, while Masabata Klaas put down a straightforward return catch proffered up by Jones on 31 – South Africa’s best chance of taking a wicket. Instead, Jones continued to loft the ball down the ground, finishing unbeaten on 40. World Cup cricket has never been so easy.
[SRC] https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/oct/03/england-womens-cricket-world-cup-flyer-10-wicket-demolition-of-south-africa
