England 371 for 7 (Beaumont 119, Khaka 2-64) beat South Africa 262 (Tryon 70, Davidson-Richards 3-35) by 109 runs
England completed a clean sweep over South Africa after scoring their fifth-highest ODI total and out-spinning the visiting line-up. Tammy Beaumont led the batting effort, with her ninth ODI century, in a perfect riposte to being left out of the Commonwealth Games squad, while Charlie Dean and Emma Lamb took six wickets between them.
That means a target over 300 has still yet to be chased in women's ODIs but, if it's any consolation to them, South Africa put on their best batting performance of the series. Laura Wolvaardt scored her 29th ODI half-century, Marizanne Kapp her 11th and Chloe Tryon her 10th, but no South African batter managed three figures. England had centurions in all three matches, which was ultimately the difference between the two teams.
In scorching weather, with the mercury hitting 35 degrees in parts of the country, Sune Luus chose to field first but whether the heat led to the lethargy in South Africa's effort is debatable. With controversy over Lizelle Lee's retirement still stalking the squad, South Africa struggled to focus in the field and were unable to maintain consistent lines and lengths.
As has been the case throughout the series, they offered too much width and were ill-disciplined, sending down four no-balls and 15 wides in total and conceding 47 fours and three sixes - 206 runs in boundaries. For comparison, England's attack were hit for 30 fours and four sixes - 144 runs.
Perhaps even the best efforts of South Africa's attack would not have been able to stop Beaumont, who was a casualty of England's youth-first policy for the forthcoming T20Is but showed the value she adds with an innings of authority. Beaumont and opening partner Lamb brought out the cut and the expansive drive to bring up England's fifty in the ninth over and finish the Powerplay on 66 without loss.
South Africa had the opportunity to get rid of both them relatively early on. Lamb was on 34 when left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba induced an edge but Trisha Chetty could not hold on. Three overs later, Lamb and Beaumont brought up their century stand, to mark the first time England have had consecutive three-figure opening partnerships, and then South Africa's wheels truly came off.
Lamb was on 54 when she launched Mlaba to long-on, where Andrie Steyn put down a simple catch. Off the next delivery Beaumont, having just reached fifty, offered Mlaba a return catch, which was dropped. And at the end of that over, Chetty fluffed a simple run-out chance when Lamb set off for a single that wasn't there, Wolvaardt fired in a flat throw and Chetty did not collect cleanly. If that didn't hurt enough, England rubbed it in as they took 26 runs off the next two overs including Beaumont hitting Tryon over the sightscreen for six.
South Africa had some joy when Lamb tried to lap Shabnim Ismail and instead lost her off stump, to fall for 65 and finish as the series' leading run-scorer with 234 at 78.00. The dismissal did nothing to slow Beaumont down, however - she flicked, drove and pulled Ismail for three successive boundaries to get England to 172 for 1 at halfway.
Beaumont brought up a century off 93 balls with a single off Mlaba. By then, Sophia Dunkley had settled in too and the pair shared in a stand of 87 for the second wicket, with Dunkley going on to her fourth ODI fifty. Danni Wyatt's cameo of 33 runs off 14 balls included 24 runs off Nadine de Klerk's seventh over to leave her with match figures of 1 for 87 in eight overs. England scored 97 runs in the last 10 overs to leave South Africa with a mountain to climb.
Wolvaardt started the reply strongly and was the major contributor in a 61-run opening stand with Andrie Steyn. Dean bowled Steyn to make the first breakthrough but South Africa ended the Powerplay on 69 for 1, with Wolvaardt well set. She brought up fifty with her 10th boundary, a cracking cover-drive, but her poor conversation rate suffered another blow when she was trapped on the pad, playing the sweep against Dean too early.
Luus had the opposite problem and was too late to play a shot when she cleared the front pad to hit Lamb to the leg side and was also out lbw, and when Lara Goodall chipped Alice Davidson-Richards to mid-on, South Africa's chase was all but up.
Kapp and Tryon kept them in it with a 110-run fifth-wicket stand and England may just have been getting worried at 219 for 4 in the 36th over when Lamb offered width, Kapp went for a big stroke and sent a catch straight to point. South Africa lost their last six wickets for 43 runs and were bowled out with 4.2 overs remaining.
