England all set for series decider as they make changes to squad

Danielle Hazell and Lauren Winfield have been released from the squad to play for the academy side. With a busy month of international cricket ahead it gives them the opportunity to play some cricket.

Added to the squad is the seam bowler Kate Cross who will give England another option in the pace attack. It might be an indication that England will only name one front-line spinner in Sophie Ecclestone. With Heather Knight, they have an option in that department, although she has not bowled for England of late.

England may be reluctant to make changes after a strong performance at Hove on Tuesday. Nat Sciver who will win her 50^th cap at Canterbury spoke before that game about England’s prospects for Canterbury.

"I’d love to end this series with a good showing with bat and ball. It’s brilliant to see the team come back from the first defeat and to see Sarah and Tammy perform as excellently as they did throughout the World Cup. And then the bowlers backed it up, which was great."

Having come off a pleasing performance at Hove, the all-rounder went on to add “We were better in all departments. We knew we didn’t play well at Worcester, and that can happen. South Africa are a really good side and we always knew we’d have to be at our best to win the series. The performance at Hove was more like it and it’d be great if we could continue that momentum at Canterbury.”

Sciver also spoke about the possibility of bringing up a personal milestone with a cap for 50 ODI appearances. “I’m really excited to make it to 50 ODI caps. It’s come round pretty quickly, actually. With the World Cup last year we managed to play quite a few ODIs. It’s an exciting day and hopefully, I’ll be able to put in a good performance. It’s always special to reach a landmark like that and it would make a victory and a series win that bit sweeter.”

It is not the only milestone for England as Sarah Taylor will equal the record for ODIs as wicket-keeper with 108 games. It will equal the record currently set by Jane Smit the former England wicket-keeper, who won the World Cup at Lord’s in 1993.