The England Women’s cricket team celebrated their first Test victory in ten years, defeating South Africa by a commanding 286 runs on Tuesday in a one-off Test in Bloemfontein.

On the third day of the match at the Mangaung Oval, the Lionesses resumed their second innings at 31/1, with Tammy Beaumont and captain Heather Knight at the crease. Beaumont added just three runs to her overnight score before being trapped LBW by Tumi Sekhukhune, leaving England at 42/2.

Knight then partnered with Nat Sciver-Brunt to build a promising stand for the third wicket. However, Sciver-Brunt was dismissed for 37 by Nonkululeko Mlaba. Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones made useful contributions of 23 and 24 runs, respectively, supporting Knight before falling to Sekhukhune and Mlaba.

Nonkululeko Mlaba and Laura Wolvaardt. Photo: Cricinfo

Mlaba's brilliance with the ball continued as she dismissed Charlie Dean for one and Sophie Ecclestone for 16. The left-arm spinner then claimed the crucial wicket of Knight, who fell painfully short of a century, scoring 90. Mlaba dismissed debutant Ryana MacDonald-Gay for 4, completing a remarkable six-wicket haul. Her figures of 6/67 made her the first South African woman to take ten wickets in a Test match.

England’s innings ended on 236 after 74.1 overs, setting South Africa a daunting target of 351 for victory. Sekhukhune contributed with figures of 2/35 in 12 overs, complementing Mlaba's stellar performance.

Despite the challenging target, there was a glimmer of hope for South Africa with patient batting and ample time left in the match. However, their chase faltered from the onset. Captain Laura Wolvaardt fell for just four runs in the third over, followed by Anneke Bosch for four. The controversial caught dismissal of Annerie Dercksen for nine further derailed South Africa's momentum. This decision, like two others earlier in the match, sparked debate and highlighted the absence of the DRS system, which would have overturned the umpire’s call.

Marizanne Kapp fought valiantly with a score of 21, and Mlaba chipped in with 14, but South Africa was ultimately bowled out for just 64 runs in 19.4 overs, suffering a heavy defeat.

Lauren Bell led England’s bowling attack with career-best figures of 4/27 in nine overs for the second time in the match. Ecclestone contributed with 2/7 in 4.4 overs, while Lauren Filer added 1/12. For her eight wickets for 76 runs in the Test, Bell was named as the Player of the Match.

Reflecting on the Test, Knight, who claimed her first win as captain, said it was a great Test to be part of and has given them tremendous confidence ahead of next year’s Women’s Ashes Series in Australia.

“We take great confidence from it – whenever we play Test cricket, because we play it so scarcely, we’re always learning about how to go about the different tactics, the different periods of the game that you have to manage, and how that varies as conditions change,” said Knight.

Heather Knight. Photo: Cricinfo

“We take a huge amount of learnings from it. It was a brilliant Test match – the ebbs and flows. There were times when we had to really hang in there and control the rate and obviously jump in when we were in with a sniff. We take a huge amount from it.

“The fact that we were able to play like we did with only two days’ preparation should be a thing of confidence for us because, obviously, that Test match in Australia is going to be exactly the same. That mentality to be able to flip between formats is a really hard thing to do, so getting more experience of doing that as players will hopefully stand us in good stead.”

The lack of the DRS did have a big influence on the game. South Africa lost the Test as they couldn’t win the big moments, which the English, in turn, managed exceptionally well.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg