Grace Road (Leicester): England top-order batter Tammy Beaumont smashed her ninth One-day International ton to help the hosts to another victory and a 3-0 series sweep against South Africa here.
The 31-year-old veteran opener, who is just three shy of completing a century of ODIs, didn’t take too kindly to being left out of England’s Commonwealth Games squad as she hit a brilliant 119 off 107 balls to lead her side to a 109-run victory against the Proteas on Monday.
Beaumont put on 149 for the opening wicket alongside fellow opener Emma Lamb (65) and then further upped her game when Sophia Dunkley (51) joined her at the crease in searing conditions at Grace Road.
By the time Beaumont fell, she had put the hosts on the path to compiling a whopping 371/7 from their allotted 50 overs.
The visitors were going to need a fast start to have any chance of chasing down England’s mammoth score and opening duo Laura Wolvaardt and Andrie Steyn provided a glimmer of hope when they put on 60 inside the first eight overs of the run chase.
Wolvaardt in particular punished anything that was loose as she brought up her 29th ODI half-century, but the talented 23-year-old once again failed to go on with it as she fell to Charlie Dean for 56.
Two other South Africa batters also made it past fifty — Chloe Tryon hit 70 and Marizanne Kapp contributed 62 — but South Africa found the run rate required too steep as they were eventually bundled out in the 46th over for just 262 in reply.
It was the England’s slow bowlers that proved pivotal during South Africa’s run chase, with Dean (3/42) and Lamb (3/42) combining for six wickets in an excellent team effort. Inexperienced pacer Alice Davidson-Richards (3/35) also chimed in with her own three-wicket haul as many of South Africa’s world class batters failed to convert their good starts into big scores.
In the end this proved the difference in the series, with England’s batters a class above and scoring a century in each match to ensure a comprehensive 3-0 series sweep.
Brief scores: England Women 371/7 in 50 overs (Emma Lamb 65, Tammy Beaumont 119, Sophia Dunkley 51, Heather Knight 63, Danni Wyatt 33) beat South Africa 262 in 45.4 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 56, Marizanne Kapp 62, Chloe Tryon 70; Charlie Dean 3/42, Emma Lamb 3/42, Alice Davidson-Richards 3/35) by 109 runs.
–IANS