Sciver-Brunt & Bouchier give England upper hand over SA

Nat Sciver-Brunt's century was her second in 11 Tests, both scored against South Africa

South Africa v England, one-off Test (day one of four)

England 395-9 (92 overs): Sciver-Brunt 128, Bouchier 126; Mlaba 4-90

South Africa 17-0 (6 overs): Wolvaardt 8*

South Africa trail by 378 runs

Scorecard

Sublime centuries from Maia Bouchier and Nat Sciver-Brunt led England to a strong position on the opening day of the one-off Test against South Africa.

Opener Bouchier made 126 on her Test debut, while all-rounder Sciver-Brunt's 96-ball ton is the fastest ever in women's Tests as England posted 395-9 declared in 92 overs.

Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch calmly negotiated a tricky six overs at the close as South Africa reached 17-0, 378 runs behind.

The hosts' bowlers struggled for consistency on a slow pitch with short boundaries as Bouchier and Sciver-Brunt added 174 for the third wicket in a ruthless display before the former was caught at slip shortly before tea.

Sciver-Brunt was unluckily run out while backing up for 128, and South Africa capitalised on the opportunity to expose England's lower order as five wickets fell for 38 runs in the evening session.

England were given a reprieve in the opening over when Tammy Beaumont was given not out for an lbw call which looked plumb in front off Marizanne Kapp, instantly drawing attention to Cricket South Africa's decision not to use the decision review system (DRS) for this four-day Test.

It did not cost too much in the currency of Beaumont's runs, as she was first to fall for 21, but 53 runs were subsequently added for the first wicket which took the sting out of the dangerous Kapp and the new ball which allowed England to score freely at around five an over for the first two sessions.

Nonkululeko Mlaba was the standout performer for South Africa with 4-90, extracting turn and bounce from the surface late in the day which will undoubtedly be brought into play by Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean on day two.

Batters dominate on fast-paced day

Nat Sciver-Brunt scored half of her runs down the ground

After Beaumont's early life, England had South Africa on the back foot after just two balls and looked intent on keeping them there.

For the first two sessions, the runs flowed with ease as England were gifted plentiful bad balls to dispatch, helped by the short boundaries where even a mistimed prod would race to the ropes once the ball was placed in a gap.

Beaumont was brilliantly caught by a diving Sune Luus at mid-wicket before Bouchier added a further 50 with Heather Knight, though the England captain struggled for fluency and was pinned lbw for 20 in the first over after lunch.

After that, Sciver-Brunt and Bouchier hit the accelerator and South Africa wilted in the face of their aggression, with Bouchier's 124-ball century holding the record for England's fastest in Tests for just 29 minutes.

Bouchier gave one chance, as Kapp missed a catch at deep square leg which went for six and brought up the opener's fifty, but Sciver-Brunt was chanceless and from the moment she strode to the middle, the century felt inevitable.

The evening flurry of wickets dampened the day slightly, as England failed to fully assert their dominance.

Amy Jones' drive was deflected onto the stumps by Mlaba to end Sciver-Brunt's innings, Danni Wyatt-Hodge was caught behind off the same bowler for 12 and Dean edged onto her stumps for eight.

Jones chipped Mlaba to mid-off for a patient 39 before South Africa took the new ball, with Kapp and Ayanda Hlubi removing Ecclestone and debutant Ryana Macdonald-Gay in quick succession before Knight called her side in.

Spin to play key role on day two

After Mlaba's efforts and the part-time spin of Luus also offering turn, Ecclestone and Dean will be relishing their chance on day two.

South Africa's bowlers were thwarted by their inability to build pressure through slowing England's scoring, with at least one bad ball an over costing them too regularly.

But England's spinners should not have that problem, which would be a huge boost for Knight when rotating her seamers.

Despite only bowling six overs, however, there were some signs of concern in the often erratic bowling of Lauren Bell and Lauren Filer, with several balls drifting down the leg side and others floated too wide outside the off stump.

Experienced seamer Kate Cross suffered a back spasm in the third one-day international between these two sides and has not recovered, leaving England exposed in the seam department in terms of control.

Bell has struggled for consistency this winter and while Filer's raw pace is exciting, it comes with the sacrifice of control, which Cross can offer when fit.

With the debutant Macdonald-Gay as the other frontline seamer and Sciver-Brunt as another option, England's spinners are expected to play a potentially match-defining role.

'I didn't know about the record' - what they said

Nat Sciver-Brunt averages almost 50 in Test cricket

England all-rounder Nat Sciver-Brunt, speaking to BBC Test Match Special: "It was great fun out there. I got gifted a few four-balls at the start so got settled pretty quickly. I'm very happy with the day's work.

"I don't think about the numbers when I am out there so I didn't realise how quick the century was – the scoreboard doesn't have balls faced. I got off to a quick start and getting to three figures in around two hours was really pleasing.

"It's always nice to bat with no restrictions in Test cricket and you are only batting against yourself. When you play white ball you are always under pressure to score so to bat without those pressures is really exciting. It's a great format of the game that I enjoy.

"Maia [Bouchier's] innings was brilliant. She was calm from the outset and took it one ball at a time. She took the game on and was committed and she did such a good job."

Ex-England bowler Alex Hartley: "Maia Bouchier and Nat Sciver-Brunt were brilliant for England. Nat steps up for England time and time again. She is the best in the world by a long way."