England women beat SA women by five wickets at the Wanderers on Sunday, to wrap up the three-match series 2-1.
After levelling the series in Centurion on Friday with a brilliant five-wicket victory, the momentum was with the Proteas. With England stranded on 38-3 the hosts were well in with a shout, before Heather Knight and Georgia Elwiss steadied the ship to steer them over the line with 37 balls to spare.
Knowing each match in the series had been won by chasing, England decided to field first and it appeared a good decision as SA put together a modest 196-9 from their allotted overs.
It could have been worse, however, as they were at one point on 85-6, before an 80-run stand between Lizelle Lee and Sune Luus brought them back into the contest. Lee contributed 40 of those runs as she motored to 74 off just 77 balls, following on from her form on Friday which saw her score 69.
The wicket of Luus (20) brought about another collapse, before they settled for 196-9.
England were in all kinds of trouble early on as 30-0 turned into 38-3 as the top order collapsed. Veteran skipper Charlotte Edwards scored 29 to rescue the innings. Her wicket was as good as it got for South Africa, as Knight and Elwiss took it away with a 97-run stand.
They both scored fifties, and while Shabnim Ismael bowled Elwiss for 61, the damage was already done. Knight and Danielle Wyatt saw England over the line to seal the match and the series.
