Close South Africa 17 for 0 trail England 395 for 9 dec (Sciver-Brunt 128, Bouchier 126, Mlaba 4-90) by 378 runs
Nat Sciver-Brunt scored the fastest hundred in women's Tests, off 96 balls, eclipsing debutant Maia Bouchier who had briefly held the England record for herself, with a 124-ball effort in a show of batting dominance in Bloemfontein.
England finished on their ninth-highest score and were well on track to post a new record until a South African comeback late in the day clipped their tail. South Africa took 6 for 96 in the third session and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba claimed a career-best 4 for 90, as the surface started to show early signs of turn. That will only delight England's spin pair, Charlie Dean and Sophie Ecclestone, who will know that in hot weather, the surface's deterioration will accelerate.
With overhead cloud and the floodlights on, there was also some movement on offer and Heather Knight hoped her seamers would make inroads when she declared with England nine-down, leaving South Africa with six overs to face. Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch got through them on 17 without loss and will resume in what's forecast to be blue, windless conditions on day two.
On what has historically been referred to as the flattest track in the country, Knight opted to bat first and England made full use of the batter-friendly conditions. Four of their first five partnerships were worth more than fifty runs. Their third-wicket stand of 174 off 172 balls between Bouchier and Sciver-Brunt demonstrated the best of their attacking mindset, which saw them score at a shave under five runs an over for the first two sessions and left South Africa out of ideas.
Wolvaardt used eight bowlers in the first session-and-a-half and all of them struggled with their disciplines. They conceded 47 fours and two sixes in the first two sessions (and 59 fours overall) and their ground fielding was poor, with several balls slipping through the hands or under the body.
South Africa will look back on the two chances they had early on and identify them as their best to take a wicket. Marizanne Kapp appealed for an lbw against Tammy Beaumont on the second ball of the morning, which was given not out by debutant umpire Kerrin Klaaste. With no DRS, South Africa could not review. Beaumont was on four at the time and dismissed for 21 when she pulled Ayanda Hlubi to Sune Luus at midwwicket to give Hlubi her first Test wicket. Bouchier could have been gone soon after when she had a mid-pitch mix-up with Knight but Tumi Sekhukhune's throw to the striker's end was wide. Bouchier was on nine at the time.
Sekhukhune, picked as the third seamer, was only introduced in the 26th over but immediately found some swing. She could have had Bouchier on her second ball, when the England opener swung wildly over square leg but Kapp misjudged the catch and the ball went for six to bring up Bouchier's fifty. After she raced to 43 off the first 45 balls she faced, Bouchier spent 25 deliveries working toward her half-century and showed the patience required for this format. England went to lunch on 103 for 1.
South Africa enjoyed some success soon after the interval when Sekhukhune dismissed Knight lbw with the third ball of the session, but then it was the Sciver-Brunt show. She opened her account with a gentle push that beat Mlaba at mid-on and raced away for four and the runs kept coming in boundaries. There was at least one in every over, and Bouchier took three off a Dercksen over that put her into the 80s. She entered the 90s with a six straight down the ground off Sekhukhune and reached her century five overs later when she slashed a wide Chloe Tryon delivery through third.
While that was happening, Sciver-Brunt had galloped to a 46-ball half-century, the second fastest in Test cricket, and was on 68 off 66 balls by the time Bouchier got to a hundred. Sciver-Brunt continued to move through the gears and offered a half-chance when she inside-edged Nadine de Klerk to fine leg but otherwise looked in complete control. As much as South Africa offered up some poor deliveries on the pads, Sciver-Brunt manufactured some excellent shots, read the length well and raced to hundred with a quick two off Luus. It was her second Test hundred, after an unbeaten 169 not out in her previous Test against South Africa at Taunton in 2022.
Bouchier was dismissed in the next over before tea when she lashed at a Mlaba ball that turned a touch. Luus, at slip, reacted quickly to take the catch above her head to the right. Another wicket came two overs after the break when Mlaba got one to grip, turn and take Danni Wyatt-Hodge's edge. England were 299 for 4 in the 63rd over.
South Africa continued with a post-tea squeeze and the next 15 overs only cost them 56 runs, at below four runs an over. Sciver-Brunt's scoring rate slowed down dramatically. After her hundred, she scored 28 runs off the next 47 balls but was keen to keep things going. She was well outside her crease at the non-striker's end when Amy Jones drove the ball back to Mlaba who deflected it onto the stumps. The run-out cameras (of which there are only two instead of the usual four) were not needed and Sciver-Brunt walked.
Despite removing her, South Africa did not take the second new ball when it became available and kept the spinners in operation with the old ball. Mlaba found appreciable turn from the Loch Logan end and bowled Dean off the under-edge. In her next over, Amy Jones skied her in the region of mid-off, where Kapp had to judge the swirling chance well to give Mlaba a career-best fourth wicket.
The second new ball was taken after 90 overs and given to Kapp, who had only bowled six overs in the first session. She was on the money from the get-go and bowled England's second debutant, Ryana MacDonald-Gay, for 11 with a delivery that angled in and squirted past the inside edge. Hlubi bowled Ecclestone when she missed a flick. Lauren Bell faced three balls before Knight called the innings closed, 20 minutes before the scheduled end of the day.
