England women romp past South Africa women in second ODI

Bristol [UK], July 16 (ANI): A century from Sophia Dunkley helped England women’s team outclass South Africa women by 114 runs in the second match of the three-match ODI series here at Bristol on Friday.
England’s top order sealed the series for the team by 2-0 with a game to spare after they excelled over South African bowling. With the top four batters of the team all going past the score of 50, South Africa seemed to have no answer for the explosive batting power that the English team came into the match with. Sophia Dunkley top scored with 107. The hosts put up a massive 337/5 on the board at the end of their innings. Chloe Tryon was the pick of the bowlers for SA with 2/34.
In their chase, South Africa had a good start thanks to a good partnership between openers Andrie Steyn (28) and Laura Wolvaardt (55). Fall of Laura triggered a collapse SA could not recover from. Despite best efforts of Marizanne Kapp (73), the visitors succumbed to a 114-run loss as they found no answer to the bowling of Charlie Dean (4/53) and Issy Wong (3/36).
The first wicket fell in the 21st over after Emma Lamb’s departure on the hands of Chloe Tyron. She put up an opening stand of 127 runs with Tammy Beaumont. Lamb scored 67 runs and put off the English team to a great start alongside Beaumont. Her opening partner also fell after 20 runs yet again at the hands of Tyron. Beaumont had a good knock of 58 runs off 81 balls and helped England give the strong start that they needed.
Sophia Dunkley and Nat Sciver put on a great show for the fans after the falling of both the opener’s as Dunkley smashed a century and Sciver came through with a fifty as well for the team. Dunkley who was playing on the position of first down only for the second time in the series scored her 2nd ODI hundred. With a partnership of more than 100 runs between the pair, South African bowling lineup could not think of any way to break into the partnership.
Nat Sciver’s wicket came in the 44th over as she was bowled out by African pacer Shabnim Ismail but it was already too late for them. Skipper Heather Knight fell for cheap to Nadine de Klerk. Sophia Dunkley was caught out on the last ball of the match completing her magnificent innings with 107 runs in 93 balls.
Nadine de Klerk (2/65) and Chloe Tyron (2/34) both got a couple wickets each for South Africa with one wicket to Shabnim Ismail. The efforts of South African lineup were still not enough as England still put on a massive total of 337 runs in the 50 overs. South Africa had a challenge against them and it was all upto the batting order to deliver after the failure of bowling lineup to stop England.
Andrie Steyn and Laura Wolvaardt started the innings for South Africa with the aim to win the match and save the series for South Africa. The African side put on an even better total in the power-play as compared to their English oppositions. Wolvaardt put on a half-century in just 41 balls and things were looking good for the visitors.
However, the 87-run stand of the openers came to an end after Laura was dismissed for 55 on delivery of Charlie Dean as she was caught out by Issy Wong. That wicket triggered a collapse as the next 5 wickets came within the next 51 runs.
Marizanne Kapp tried to save the match and put on a great show with 73 runs off 59 balls. Unfortunately, her sole efforts weren’t enough for the team. The Africans could not stand for long after her wicket in the 40th over. Other than Steyn, Woolvaardt and Kapp, none of the batters could touch the 20-run mark.
The English bowlers limited the visitors to a score of 223 runs in 41 overs. Charlie Dean (4/53) and Issy Wong (3/36) were at the frontline of the bowling with their efforts. Sophie Ecclestone and Lauren Bell also got two and one wicket each. A group effort from the bowling lineup did an excellent job in securing the game for the team after English batters made sure they had a mammoth of a score to chase.
It was also the first ODI debut for Issy Wong and Lauren Bell and they lived up to their expectations from them and fans could expect to see more from the bowling duo in future matches. Sophia Dunkley’s amazing knock was awarded with Player of the Match. England women won the match by 114 runs as SA women collapsed.
Brief Score: England 337 for 5 (Sophia Dunkley 107, Emma Lamb 67, Chloe Tryon 2-34) beat South Africa 223 (Marizanne Kapp 73, Laura Wolvaardt 55, Dean 4-53) by 114 runs. (ANI)