South Africa put up a dogged display with the bat on day four before rain ruined proceedings, with the one-off Test ending in a draw.
It was not the ideal start for the visitors as they lost skipper Sune Luus within the opening half an hour of the session.
Kate Cross trapped her lbw for 10, with the confidence of the hosts now up. Tumi Sekhukhune and Lizelle Lee then established a vital stand, with the former continuing her patient approach while the latter played some attacking shots.
Lee threw her wicket away as Sophie Ecclestone enticed her to play a drive with a flighted delivery. Lee could not resist a drive, though only miscued her shot to walk back for 36. Sekhukhune, joined by Marizanne Kapp, then saw through the rest of the session as the visitors took a 7-run lead, as rain curtailed the session just on the stroke of lunch.
Rain has the final say
After a delayed start in the afternoon session, the South African batters continued in the same vein, putting up a dogged display. Sekhukhune was determined as ever while Kapp continued her form from the first innings. Sekhukhune reached 33* from 134 deliveries as Kapp raced away to 43* from 53 balls. England’s hopes were forcing a result were quickly fading away.
With 68.1 overs on the board, the rain started to pelt down in Taunton again and after a long wait, the contest was finally called off. It was an anti-climactic end to a riveting contest, as the match ended in a draw.
The two teams will now shift their focus to the three-match ODI series starting on July 11, with a three-match T20I series promptly to follow.
South Africa 284 (Kapp 150, Cross 4-63) and 181 for 5 (Kapp 43*, Sekhukhune 33*) drew with England 417 for 8 dec (Sciver 169*, Davidson-Richards 107)
Heather Knight: Dissapointing, we really took the game forward with bat and ball in every session but a bit of a shame the rain intervened. I still think we should play 5 day Tests. Weather has intervened in our previous three Tests, it is something we should look at.
It’s been so exciting to stand at first slip and see these girls hare in, it is almost a start of a new era. Alice Richards showed great maturity on her debut in a new role for her.
Brilliant to see Nat Sciver bat the way they did, we were 120/5 at one point, but she took us out of that position, very excited to have her in our team. We’ll now have the weekend off but now prepare for the white ball game – a format we are more familiar with, maybe a chance to give youngsters a chance.
Sune Luus: It was a lot of fun, we want to play a lot more of this. Lots of learning for the girls. It was a great, new experience to try and work through each session.
(On Sekhukhune) She’s trending on Facebook as the Great Wall of China, she can call herself an all-rounder now because she taught us all how to bat. Looking forward to the white ball now, something we are more used to.
Nat Sciver, Player of the Match: Test cricket is all about being more disciplined and building good partnerships. I really enjoyed batting with Alice (Richards).
Really special for four players to make their debut in this game. We’ve got a few days off to go home to try and recharge a bit, but ready for the white ball games.
