A late flurry of wickets left England in a commanding position on day three at Taunton, with South Africa closing on 55 for three, still 78 runs in arrears.
England had been left frustrated after a three-hour rain delay, but when play finally resumed at 6.30pm an aggressive spell from the debutant Issy Wong, running in from the Pavilion End, removed Lara Goodall and Laura Wolvaardt with successive wicket maidens. Goodall feather‑edged behind the stumps, while Wolvaardt wafted at one outside off stump and was caught by a diving Sciver at gully.
“That’s the dream, isn’t it?” Wong said of her spell. “We’d been waiting around all day. I was trying to run in, find a bit of rhythm, and looking to get a couple of breakthroughs.
“We’re pretty confident that if we can keep working hard and earning those wickets like we’ve done over the last couple of days then that’s definitely the target – win the game. Hopefully the rain stays away.”
The day had begun with a positive morning session for England, with Nat Sciver progressing to a 249-ball 150 just before drinks, raising her bat to the crowd after stroking a single down the ground.
Along with Sophie Ecclestone, she added 65 runs in the first hour of play, as England steadily increased their lead. It helped that Marizanne Kapp continued to be used in short spells, sending down only five overs across the morning.
Ecclestone was finally dismissed in the fourth over after drinks, trapped lbw by Nonkululeko Mlaba for 35. Four balls later, a too-eager Kate Cross fell victim to a direct hit from Nadine de Klerk at the non-striker’s end; by that point the lead was 133 and Knight was so keen to call in her players that they had left the field before the third umpire could announce his decision.
It left South Africa facing a tricky 25-minute period before lunch, and England made it count: in only her second over, Cross lured Andrie Steyn into the drive and she edged it straight to Sciver at gully.
Three balls later England were convinced they had a second, sending Anna Harris’s not-out lbw decision upstairs, but replays clearly showed Goodall had got an inside edge; and the heavens then opened.
Ironically, after play finally resumed at 3.05pm, Goodall nicked an away‑swinger from Lauren Bell to Amy Jones behind the stumps, but England failed to appeal, allowing Goodall and Wolvaardt to dig in ahead of the next downpour 30 minutes later.
Knight’s reluctance to leave the field was plain, but a superb effort from the Taunton groundstaff enabled England to send both packing before the close of play.
