Key events
England win the toss and bowl
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt calls incorrectly and Nat Sciver-Brunt chooses to field first. That’s a useful toss to win with the potential for batting to become easier under the lights.
“Don’t mind having a bat too much,” says Wolvaardt.
Preamble
Ssshhhhhhhhh! The talking is over, at least for now, and England’s World Cup is about to begin. The bad news is they start with a tough game against South Africa in Guwahati. The good news is they start with a tough game against South Africa in Guwahati. Victory today would give England instant momentum and underscore the cautious confidence of their pre-tournament chatter.
An excellent win over Australia in their last warm-up has increased that confidence, even if the individual performances of Alice Capsey (88 not out) and Sarah Glenn (5 for 32) gave Charlotte Edwards a slight selection headache.
Edwards is a serial winner, so there’s no danger of England setting their sights low. But from a distance they are in the slightly unusual position of having a very clear par for the tournament.
Failure to reach the semi-finals would be a minor shocker, even allowing for the improvement among the traditional also-rans. Reaching the final ahead of either Australia or India, the two clear favourites to win the competition, would be a serious achievement. And if England win it… no, let’s not go there. It’s way too early for that sort of talk.
Today’s match begins at 10.30am BST.
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