England 395 for 9 dec and 31 for 1 lead South Africa 281 (Wolvaardt 65, Kapp 57, Luus 56, Bell 4-49) by 145 runs
Laura Wolvaardt, Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus all scored half-centuries but none went on three figures as England took control of the one-off Test in Bloemfontein.
Lauren Bell's career-best 4 for 49, which included the first and second-last wickets of the innings, will steal the headlines but England's seamers were collectively excellent and well deployed by captain Heather Knight. Lauren Filer operated in short, sharp bursts which allowed her to maintain good pace, debutant Ryana MacDonald-Gay made crucial breakthroughs with the old ball and Nat Sciver-Brunt was typically disciplined as South Africa failed to build on their decent starts.
Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen put on 92 for the second wicket and Kapp and Luus a South African record 99-run stand for the fourth, but there were no other stands higher than 25. They lost 7 for 44 in 14.4 overs which undid the good work from the first day, when they took 7 for 118 in England's innings and survived a tricky end-of-day batting period to resume with all ten wickets in hand.
England got a breakthrough in the second over when Anneke Bosch played at a Bell delivery on fifth-stump and feathered an edge through to Amy Jones. That brought Dercksen to the crease, promoted to No. 3 after debuting at No. 8 against India earlier in the year, and she was peppered by short balls from Filer, bowling at good pace.
The fourth hit her the side of the helmet as she took her eyes off the ball and tried to get out of its way. Dercksen smiled as she was checked for concussion and provided the perfect riposte when she drove Bell through the covers in the next over. When Filer offered that length she got the same response. Wolvaardt meted out similar treatment to bring up South Africa's fifty in the 14th over.
Nat Sciver-Brunt replaced Filer, whose first spell was seven overs long, and Dercksen could relax. She reeled off two strong bottom-handed drives but any level of comfort was short lived. Sciver-Brunt found her edge in the next over but it went wide of the slips and then Sophie Ecclestone took over.
At the other end, 20-year old MacDonald-Gay got her first opportunity with the ball and started well, with good shape into the right-hander. She squared Dercksen up in her fifth over, which earned the batter a streaky boundary. Wolvaardt looked far more assured as she pulled MacDonald-Gay through square leg to bring up the partnership fifty and then took the first runs off Ecclestone when she whipped her through midwicket. She brought up her own fifty off 99 balls, her second successive fifty-plus Test score.
With 15 minutes to go to the lunch interval, Filer was brought back for a short spell and continued to trouble Dercksen, who top-edged the third ball to fine leg on 33. Bell made good ground but shelled the chance. Three overs later, Filer found the same steep bounce and Dercksen tried to cut but top-edged again. Heather Knight, at second slip, jumped to take the catch and parried to Ecclestone, who held on the rebound. South Africa went to lunch on 113 for 2, having scored 96 runs in the morning session and 282 runs behind.
Luus resumed with Wolvaardt post-lunch and started watchfully. It was only when MacDonald-Gay and Filer went short that Wolvaardt and Luus took them on and England rectified their lengths quickly to dry up runs. South Africa scored 25 runs in 50 balls in the second session before Wolvaardt was stuck on the crease and hit on the pads by Ecclestone, who successfully appealed for lbw.
Wolvaardt immediately indicated she had hit the ball but, with no DRS, could not review. This was the second incident in the match in which South Africa could have benefitted from a referral. On day one, Kapp was convinced she had Tammy Beaumont out lbw off the second ball of the match but was given not out. Umpire Kerrin Klaaste was the decision-maker on both occasions.
Kapp had to put that aside when she joined Luus and took on the more aggressive role. She sent Bell through the covers and past point and flicked Ecclestone fine and Charlie Dean through midwicket and, as she found boundaries, Luus allowed herself to play with freedom too. They brought up the South African 200, took on the spinners and then Kapp also blunted Filer before tea to finish a successful session for the home side in which 112 runs came for the loss of only one wicket.
Play resumed for the evening session with the floodlights blazing and storm clouds overhead. The atmosphere was ominous and it proved so for Kapp who was bowled by a stunning MacDonald-Gay delivery which held its line, beat the drive and hit the top of off stump. Five balls later, a lightning strike took the players off the field for a further 45 minutes with the new ball six overs away.
England made one more incision with the old ball when MacDonald-Gay's discipline paid off and she had Nadine de Klerk caught behind for a duck. South Africa were 237 for 5, eight runs short of the follow-on target of 245. Chloe Tryon took them past that with successive fours off MacDonald-Gay and England took the second new ball as soon as it became available.
Filer took it and started with a familiar short-ball tactic but adjusted to a fuller length early on. The first ball of her second over moved off the seam, Luus swung and nicked off. Chloe Tryon hit four fours before she chipped Bell to Beaumont at mid-on in the softest of dismissals and the tail could not have been expected to do much more. Bell bowled Jafta and Mlaba in successive balls after the former didn't move her feet and the latter backed away and Sciver-Brunt picked up a wicket when Ayanda Hlubi was given out lbw.
Wolvaardt used five bowlers to deliver the 14 remaining overs. Kapp and Hlubi opened the bowling and beat the bat several times in the opening exchanges, starting the innings with three consecutive maidens. Hlubi then produced a beauty in her third over, which moved off the seam and took the outside edge as Bouchier became the second batter in women's Test to score a century and a duck in the same game, after Jan Brittin. Beaumont and Knight saw out the day, growing England's lead to 145.
