South Africa's Suné Luus during day one of the Women's Test match against England at The Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton. Picture: David Davies, PA Wire, PA Images, BackpagePix
Johannesburg – As South Africa reached 284 all out at stumps of the women’s Test against in Taunton on Monday, here are the plays of an intriguing day of cricket writes Stuart Hess.
FOUR: Test hundreds by South African women’s players. Marizanne Kapp joined Yvonne van Mentz, Brenda Williams and Mignon du Preez as the only Test centurions for the Proteas. It’s safe to say, Kapp’s effort on Monday was the best of the lot. It’s also comfortably the highest.
SHOT: Kapp, had a bunch, particularly through the covers, but the best was Suné Luus’s backfoot cover drive from off Nat Sciver, 20 minutes before lunch - exquisitely time, precisely placed.
CATCH 1: Sciver is one of the best all-rounders on the circuit and showed off her athleticism diving to her left at third slip to poach a sharp chance to dismiss Luus.
CATCH 2: It took a moment of magic to end an incredible innings, and Tammy Beaumont provided it, with a stunning diving effort at mid-off – throwing herself to her right, to end Kapp’s stay at the crease.
BALL: Issy Wong, bowled a beauty to Wolvaardt, that seamed back into the right hander, through a gap between bat and pad and knocked back the middle and off stumps.
NINE: Debutantes for the Proteas; Andrie Steyn, Wolvaardt, Lara Goodall, Luus, Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk Sinalo Jaftha, Tumi Sekhukhune and Nonkululeko Mlaba, join a pretty exclusive club. The current match is only the 13th South Africa has ever played. The first was against England in 1960.
England too, had four debutantes in their starting line-up.