England-win-series

Ecclestone shines as England complete South Africa series sweep

England-win-series

Sophie Ecclestone the batter?

We are aware of how good Ecclestone is with ball in hand, but she showed some clean hitting with the bat on Monday as she hit an unbeaten 33 from just 12 deliveries to help England post a hefty score of 176/6 in Derby.

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Ecclestone smashed four boundaries and two massive sixes during an entertaining cameo that netted her highest T20I score and then backed it up by picking up two crucial wickets with the ball to ensure South Africa fell short on the run chase.

England used a total of seven bowlers to blunt the Proteas, with young pacer Issy Wong (1/40) producing the delivery of the match to clean bowl South Africa opener Lara Goodall during the opening over of the chase.

Gallant South Africa battle hard

The Proteas overcame the early loss of Goodall to put together a couple of handy partnerships, with No.3 batter Tazmin Brits leading the way with a stylish half-century.

But the Proteas were always going to struggle without the services of key duo Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus, as Ecclestone picked up the vital wicket of Laura Wolvaardt for 13 and the required rate continued to rise.

Experienced duo Mignon du Preez and Chloe Tryon tried to hit out during the final overs, but Freya Kemp (2/18) effectively ended any hope the Proteas had when she deceived Brits during the 18th over of the run chase to ensure victory for the hosts.

Attention turns to Commonwealth Games

The series was much closer than the 3-0 scoreline to England initially indicates and both teams will fancy their chances of picking up a medal at the Commonwealth Games tournament that commences in Birmingham later this week.

England have plenty of depth at their disposal and will be considered a leading contender for the gold medal given they are playing at home and key players such as Nat Sciver, Danni Wyatt and Ecclestone appear to be in good form.

South Africa may have to chase a medal without the services of Kapp (family reasons), but still have enough class in their line-up to be dangerous against any opposition.