England bat, Kapp returns for South Africa

Marizanne Kapp struck three times with the new ball  •  Gallo Images/Getty Images

England 186 (Dean 47*, Knight 40, Dercksen 3-16, Kapp 3-24) vs South Africa

Refreshed after being rested from the T20I series, Marizanne Kapp made the perfect start by picking up three wickets inside her first four overs in the opening ODI against England. Courtesy her strikes, England were reduced to 29 for 3 and then slipped further to 106 for 7. But a counterattacking eighth-wicket partnership of 67 off 64 between Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone helped England to a respectable 186.

England were dealt an early blow after Maia Bouchier was ruled out after spraining her neck while batting in the nets. As a result, Sophia Dunkley partnered Tammy Beaumont at the top after they opted to bat. Beaumont edged Kapp first ball she faced but wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta couldn't hang on.

Kapp, and Jafta, did not have to wait for long for success though; Dunkley tickled one to Jafta on the final ball of the first over, a couple of deliveries after hitting a well-timed extra-cover drive. Kapp continued to probe with the new ball and, along with Ayabonga Khaka, managed to string together a row of 11 dots before Beaumont decided to change gears.

She charged Khaka to flick her over midwicket and went past Claire Taylor to become England's second-highest run-scorer in women's ODIs, and enter the list of top ten run-getters in the format. But her joy was short-lived, when, in the following over, she charged down to Kapp but was beaten on the inside to be bowled. Danni Wyatt-Hodge continued from where she left off in the T20Is and smacked a couple of balls before she was trapped in front by Nadine de Klerk.

Amy Jones then helped England recover briefly as spin came into play. But Annerie Dercksen, in just her second ODI, preferred here ahead of the more experienced Anneke Bosch, struck soon enough, getting Jones to miscue a pull towards deep backward square leg where Chloe Tryon pulled off a stunning diving catch. Nonkululeko Mlaba, who had an injury scare after twisting her ankle early in the match, trapped Alice Capsey lbw.

Knight looked to get the measure of the surface, which was not conducive to stroke-play. She hit five fours in her innings, often using her feet even against the seamers. But her attempted paddle against Mlaba proved to be her downfall. To begin, South Africa did not really look convinced and only opted to review for the lbw belatedly, and Hawk-Eye returned three reds.

At that stage, England looked to be folding cheaply, but then Dean and Ecclestone came together. The charge was led primarily by Dean, while the latter returned the strike to her. It was England's third-best partnership for the eighth wicket in women's ODIs. It came to a close when Ecclestone mistimed a cut off a slow short ball from Dercksen, and de Klerk pulled off a fine leaping catch at backward point. It only took 17 more deliveries for South Africa to bundle the tourists out.