England level ODI series after chaotic SA collapse

Second ODI, Durban

South Africa 135 (31.3 overs): Tryon 45 (49); Dean 4-45

England 137-4 (23.5 overs): Beaumont 34 (52); Dercksen 2-22

England won by six wickets; series level 1-1

Scorecard

England levelled the one-day international series against South Africa with a clinical six-wicket win after the hosts' chaotic middle-order collapse in Durban.

The Proteas were in control at 72-2 after 16 overs before calamitously losing five wickets for four runs in the space of 12 balls, with England spinner Charlie Dean taking a hat-trick split across two overs.

Dean finished with 4-45 as the hosts were bowled out for 135 in 31.3 overs, while fellow spinner Sophie Ecclestone and seamer Lauren Filer took three wickets each.

Tammy Beaumont and Maia Bouchier added 69 for the first wicket in England's positive reply, before Danni Wyatt-Hodge's unbeaten 25 steered them over the line in the 24th over.

The drama of South Africa's innings was preceded by a patient stand of 58 between Annerie Dercksen and captain Laura Wolvaardt, after Filer's eye-catching opening burst saw the Proteas reduced to 14-2 inside the first four overs.

The dismissal of Dercksen triggered the collapse as she fell to Dean for 29 in the 17th over, before star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp uncharacteristically chipped to mid-off for a duck three balls later.

Ecclestone claimed the prized wicket of Laura Wolvaardt for 35 in the following over, before Dean completed her hat-trick with Nadine de Klerk caught at slip and Sinalo Jafta pinned lbw to leave South Africa's innings in tatters on 76-7.

Chloe Tryon's counter-attacking 45 from 49 rescued the Proteas from total capitulation but, with so few runs to defend, their bowlers struggled to build pressure and England made light work of a modest chase.

The series decider takes place at Potchefstroom on Wednesday.

After a disappointing series opener, when they were bowled out for 186 in Kimberley, England were in need of a response and their bowlers delivered in ruthless fashion.

But before Dean and Ecclestone got to work it was Filer who was electric, making the most of the new ball with a hostile opening four-over spell that set the tone after captain Heather Knight won the toss.

Opener Tazmin Brits drove her first ball for four but Filer immediately corrected herself, firing the ball straighter and knocking middle stump out of the ground before she gave number three Sune Luus a tough short-ball examination.

Luus was forced to duck underneath her first ball as Filer greeted her to the middle with a bouncer and continued to force her back into her crease, eventually nailing her plan to perfection as a fuller delivery beat the batter for pace and the stumps were splattered once again.

From there, captain Wolvaardt and the emerging talent of Dercksen regrouped and blunted England's attack effectively, calmly rotating the strike and pouncing on any width to accumulate a steady fifty partnership.

But chaos followed as Dean - with a huge helping hand from South Africa's atrocious shot-selection - turned the game on its head.

While no single player is ever to blame for a collapse, Dercksen's soft dismissal kickstarted it and she was dealt a harsh lesson in taking responsibility once you are in as a batter.

The all-rounder chipped an innocuous delivery from Dean to point after a lapse in concentration following the drinks break, before Kapp's bizarre shot rocked the line-up of which she is so often the saviour in tricky situations.

Wolvaardt, playing her 100th ODI, made a costly error in judgement by trying to play Ecclestone off the back foot having previously been so disciplined - and from there the Proteas unravelled with their two superstars gone in the space of four balls.

Filer returned after Tryon added a quick stand of 26 with Nonkululeko Mlaba, bowling the latter with a fierce yorker and finishing with 3-32 - including an average pace of just under 74mph, the fastest spell of her ODI career to date.

England must now protect their precious commodity with the Ashes looming in the new year.

The importance of Filer's extra pace and point of difference was also evident in the second innings as South Africa's seamers, even Kapp, could not extract any life from the pitch.

Bouchier, who missed the opening match with a neck injury, played fluently for her 33 from 36 balls as South Africa offered her far too much width on both sides of the wicket.

As early wickets were their only route to victory, the hosts had to be attacking with their fields and tried to bowl fuller, but were unsuccessful as the openers raced to 57-0 inside the 10-over powerplay.

Bouchier was caught at mid-wicket in the 12th over, before Beaumont fell for a more restrained 34 from 52 balls four overs later as she gloved a short ball from Dercksen down the leg side.

Knight fell three balls later for seven but the experience of Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt, who made 20, ensured that England did not suffer a collapse of their own with an unflustered stand of 47.

When England were knocked out of the T20 World Cup in October, they buckled under the weight of expectation and head coach Jon Lewis cited the need for more pressure situations during their bilateral series.

The series decider is therefore perfectly poised as they look to claim a white-ball clean sweep before the Test match concludes the tour.