Beaumont guides England to series win

England beat South Africa by six wickets in a rain-affected encounter in Potchefstroom to secure the ODI series.

Set a revised target of 152 in 23 overs, England slipped to 25-3 with Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp delivering another masterful new-ball spell.

But Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones’ sublime unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 90 revived the chase, steering England to their target with four overs to spare.

Beaumont finished with 65 from 46 balls, while Jones struck a lively 49 from 36.

England were initially set 234 in 50 overs by the hosts before a lengthy delay because of rain and lightning, and when play did resume it looked like the quick turnaround had caught them by surprise.

Opener Maia Bouchier fell for four after mistiming a pull shot in Kapp’s first over, and Nat Sciver-Brunt was promoted to number three but was caught at point for a duck just two balls later.

Heather Knight was bowled by a beauty in the fifth over to leave England reeling and when Danni Wyatt-Hodge fell for 22, they were 68-4 and South Africa were on top.

But the hosts could not capitalise as their bowlers, Kapp aside, were wayward which allowed Beaumont and Jones to score freely under little pressure.

England had earlier restricted the hosts to 233-8 from their 50 overs, as captain Laura Wolvaardt top-scored with a fluent 61 from 68 balls at the top of the order.

But the rest of the batting line-up were guilty of squandering starts, with all of the top seven making double figures without kicking on.

Knight expertly rotated her bowlers in the heat, and they coped admirably with the blow dealt in the first over when Kate Cross left the field with a back injury and could not return, forcing Alice Capsey to bowl her full allocation (2-59).

England’s tour concludes with a one-off Test match which starts on Sunday in Bloemfontein at 8am (GMT).

Captain Knight said: “It was a brilliant effort. Losing your opening bowler in the first over and to rally round on a flat wicket in this heat was outstanding.

“We knew it was still a very good wicket [chasing a revised total]. I thought Tammy did an amazing job and set the tone early. Being under pressure in a must-win game, to win it pretty comfortably is really pleasing.”

South Africa Captain Laura Wolvaardt added: “We started well with the bat but came up a bit short at the end, losing a few too many wickets so we couldn’t maximise the final 10 overs. I think 260-280 and it would have been a different game.

“We will take a lot of learnings. It is a young group so we will do a lot of reflections but it was also a strong performance from England, they have been a tough competitor.”