Linsey Smith and England’s spinners put South Africa to the sword in a comprehensive 10-wicket victory at the Women’s Cricket World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only Sinalo Jafta made a score in the double figures for the Proteas, with 22, as the three-time champions split the wickets between them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response, Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont chased down their modest target of 70 in just 14.1 overs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England\u2019s spin trio of Linsey Smith, Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean took seven wickets between them in England\u2019s 10-wicket win over South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a repeat of the 2017 and 2022 semi-finals, England were instantly on the front foot as captain Laura Wolvaardt was caught and bowled by Smith for five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her fellow opener Tazmin Brits departed for the same score as Smith\u2019s second victim with former skipper Sune Luus being clean bowled by Lauren Bell for two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marizanne Kapp departed for four as she became Smith\u2019s third wicket and South Africa slipped to 19 for four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anneke Bosch and Jafta provided some resistance, but England continued to chip away as Nat Sciver-Brunt took two wickets, with Ecclestone following suit with two wicket maidens as she dismissed Jafta.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With her fellow spinners impressing, it took a little while for Dean to be brought into the attack, but the off-break bowler soon made an impact with the final two wickets to see South Africa bowled out for their second lowest total at a World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England had all the time in the world to chase down their target of 70 runs, which meant openers Tammy Beaumont and Amy Jones were cautious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They came up against the fearsome firepower of Kapp, who bowled in tandem with the spin of Chloe Tryon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While South Africa had struggled to deal with England\u2019s spinners, Jones and Beaumont were able to work steady boundaries off Tryon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Masabata Klaas dropped a catch off her own bowling as Jones survived on 31, eventually posting 40 from 50 balls with Beaumont making 21 from 35.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith\u2019s World Cup debut could not have gone much better with a wicket off her second delivery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 30-year-old first made her England debut in 2018 in a T20, but only achieved her first ODI cap in May of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She has since taken her maiden international five-fer and now produced figures of three for seven on World Cup debut to bowl England to a 10-wicket win over South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am really delighted with how we went. To get that start was pretty special,\u201d she said. \u201cMost importantly, we got a big win today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYesterday, Lottie [Charlotte Edwards, England head coach] spoke to me and told me I would be opening the bowling, which I was excited about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is obviously a tough challenge, but conditions were really suiting me today, so luckily I could do well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think I have just been backing myself and not over-complicating it too much. Just keep it pretty simple and try and bowl at the stumps as much as possible, and it came off today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith was given the honour of opening the bowling alongside fellow World Cup debutant Lauren Bell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The pair of them cleaned up the Proteas top order, Marizanne Kapp was Smith\u2019s third wicket of the day and saw South Africa slip to 19 for four.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophie Ecclestone and Nat Sciver-Brunt then took over, each picking up two wickets before Charlie Dean followed her spin triplets Ecclestone and Smith with the final two wickets of the innings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Smith, the ability of England\u2019s spinners, with Sarah Glenn on the bench, is what is pushing them to be greater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added: \u201cThere is huge talent in the squad and everyone is pushing for places, which is always good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe all offer different things, offer different parts of the game, so for us, hopefully, we can keep learning and growing as a unit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
England have enjoyed a difficult few months since an Ashes whitewash and defeats on home soil to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, captain Sciver-Brunt, taking charge in her first Cricket World Cup, was beaming as England got off to the perfect start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The all-rounder said: \u201cI\u2019m massively pleased, it just seems like everyone was on it in the field. We had a few first-ball wickets as well, so it was a captain\u2019s dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Linsey just stuck to her strengths. She is a left-arm spinner but can swing the ball, so we knew she was a really good match-up to those two opening batters, who obviously have scored a lot of runs in the lead-up to this tournament, so we knew it was an important partnership to break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSarah Glenn is on the bench as well. We are really blessed that we have got so many talented cricketers in our squad, it is making selection very difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For her opposite number, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt, the result in Guwahati must be forgotten about before they take on New Zealand on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is not the way we would have wanted to start the tournament,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was not our best work with the bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn saying that, I don\u2019t think we have become a bad batting unit overnight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have found a lot of resilience in the past. There is still a long tournament ahead of us, and we\u2019ll be looking to put this behind us as quickly as we can and move on to the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RESULT<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n South Africa 69 all out in 20.4 overs (Sinalo Jafta 22, Anneke Bosch 6; Linsey Smith 3\/7, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2\/5)<\/p>\n\n\n\n England 73\/0 in 14.1 overs (Amy Jones 40 not out, Tammy Beaumont 21 not out; Nonkululeko Mlaba 0\/9, Marizanne Kapp 0\/13)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Result: England win by 10 wickets<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Linsey Smith and England’s spinners put South Africa to the sword in a comprehensive 10-wicket victory at the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-4100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-cricket"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t