England Women beat South Africa in final T20 as Alice Capsey, Sophie Ecclestone and Freya Kemp impress
Alice Capsey hits fours fours in a row and fellow 17-year-old Freya Kemp takes two wickets on debut as England beat South Africa in final T20; Sophie Ecclestone slams 33no off 12 balls; captain Heather Knight (hip) misses out again ahead of Commonwealth Games later this week
Tuesday 26 July 2022 06:45, UK
England coped without injured captain Heather Knight once again as enterprising batting cameos from Alice Capsey and Sophie Ecclestone and two wickets on debut for Freya Kemp helped the hosts beat South Africa by 38 runs in the final T20 and win the multi-format series 14-2.
Knight sat out her second successive match with a hip complaint - for which she has now received an injection - giving her side a concern ahead of their Commonwealth Games opener against Sri Lanka on Saturday.
Seventeen-year-old Capsey (25 off 17) struck four fours in a row in the second over after being promoted to No 3, while Ecclestone (33no off 12) flogged Masabata Klaas (1-62) for two sixes and three fours in a 26-run final over as England posted 176-6 in Derby en route to a 3-0 T20I sweep.
Capsey's fellow 17-year-old Kemp (2-18) then had Anneke Bosch (17) stumped by Amy Jones before returning later on to dismiss Proteas top-scorer Tamzin Brits (59 off 57) as South Africa limped to 138-6 in reply.
England have made it six white-ball wins in a row over South Africa - they also swept the three-match one-day international series - since the one-off Test at Taunton ended in a rain-affected draw.
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It’s okay. I just picked up a little niggle so I have had an injection and am looking to be ready for the first game in the Commonwealth Games. I am past 30 now so need a little bit of TLC on the body.
Capsey lit up the game early in the powerplay once opener Sophia Dunkley (0) was caught at point off Nonkululeko Mlaba (3-22) from the first ball of the match after stand-in England skipper Nat Sciver elected to bat.
The teenager, playing just her second game for her country having debuted at Worcester on Saturday, thumped Klaas through mid-on, backward point, extra-cover and backward square for her four successive boundaries.
Capsey added one more four to her tally before she clothed left-arm spinner Mlaba to mid-off - Chloe Tryon, deputising as South Africa captain for the ill Sune Luus, taking the catch.
Danni Wyatt (30 off 24) and Sciver (24 off 24) put on 46 for England's third wicket only to then fall to successive deliveries, bowled by Mlaba and Tryon respectively, while Maia Bouchier (18 off 17) and Jones (28 off 18) also chipped in before Ecclestone's brutal final-over onslaught.
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Issy Wong's delicious in-swinger bowled left-hander Lara Goodall (2) in the first over of South Africa's innings but Bosch and Brits then shared a second-wicket partnership of 54 to keep the tourists in the hunt.
Left-armer Kemp snapped that stand in the ninth over before going on to dismiss Brits in the 18th as Ecclestone pouched a catch at deep midwicket.
Spinners Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn were the other England bowlers to strike on the evening - Ecclestone's 2-24 including bowling Tryon for 14 from the final ball of the game.
Ecclestone: I want to move up the batting order
Player of the Match and Series, Sophie Ecclestone: "It was so nice to get some runs and hopefully I can get myself up the batting order in the future. I want to take over Katherine Brunt's role at No 7 when she retires!
"We are feeling great as a squad [ahead of the Commonwealth Games]. There is a massive buzz around the squad. We are so confident at the minute and excited to see what happens."
Sciver: This is our best chance to beat Australia
England stand-in captain, Nat Sciver: "I think we have settled on the way we want to play - having that aggression with bat and ball, especially in the powerplay. Hopefully that puts us in a good position for the Commonwealth Games. I think this is our best chance [to beat Australia].
"People have really taken their chances. I think that's the most exciting thing - everyone has contributed and had their moments. It's probably the most fun I have had on the pitch in a long time and when you are enjoying cricket you are probably playing well as well. It is infectious.
"For Alice [Capsey] to come out like that was exactly what we wanted her to do. To show what she has got was really brilliant. Freya [Kemp] has certainly got something and we haven't seen her with the bat yet."
What's next?
England and South Africa now move on to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham with women's cricket making its debut in the event as an eight-team T20 tournament is held at Edgbaston.
England begin the campaign against Sri Lanka on Saturday (6pm), with South Africa opening up against New Zealand earlier in the day (11am).
The Commonwealth Games final will take place on Sunday, August 7, four days before the women's tournament in The Hundred gets under way.
