South Africa vs England: Danni Wyatt-Hodge says top order has licence to play brave cricket as they hunt whitewash

Danni Wyatt-Hodge says England have given their top order a licence to play brave and fearless cricket as the tourists hunt for a whitewash against South Africa in the T20 series.

Wyatt-Hodge became the first England women’s player to reach 3,000 T20I runs during the 36-run victory on Wednesday which saw the visitors clinch the three-match series 2-0 and hopes to use that as fuel for the final T20 on Saturday, live on Sky Sports.

The 33-year-old believes adopting a fearless brand of cricket has allowed her to thrive and, following a disappointing exit from the 2024 World Cup and with The Ashes now on the horizon, England are looking to regain momentum.

“I’ve always played that way anyway especially playing T20 cricket and opening the batting,” Wyatt-Hodge said.

“Games are either won or lost in the powerplay, so for me it’s pretty simple. Go out there and back yourself.

“If the ball’s in my area, I go for it. If it’s outside off, I back myself to hit over cover.

“That’s the same for all our batters, especially the top order. We’ve been given the licence to go out there and play brave, fearless cricket.

“I’ve looked to play in that way for most of my career and it suits my style because when I play the other way around, that’s when I’ll probably get out.”

England won the opening T20 in East London but did so in a sloppy manner which Wyatt-Hodge believes was partly down to the nerves of playing in their first match since the World Cup.

However, since a more dominant performance in Benoni – which also saw Sarah Glenn take a four-fer and Nat Sciver-Brunt score her third consecutive half-century – the team wants to continue pushing forward.

“I’m really proud of the way we’ve played in the last two T20s,” Wyatt-Hodge added.

“We just want to keep improving, keep getting better, keep pushing ourselves to be the best we can be.

“Even for me, at my age, I’m still working on a lot of things, I want to keep improving and put out good performances for England.

“We just spoke about being brave, fearless, like we always do, and if we make a mistake, that’s fine, as long as we’ve gone for it and given it our all.

“It was a team effort. Sarah Glenn bowled really well, they were good conditions for her actually and she got a lot of bounce and skid.

“She’s been bowling so well for England for a few years now, and I’m chuffed to bits for her. She’s a great girl, works really hard and keeps it simple.”

It is the first time England have played in a multi-format series – which includes T20s, ODIs and a Test – since the 2023 edition of The Ashes and with the next edition fast approaching, Jon Lewis’ side remain solely focused on the present challenge against South Africa.

“It’s a really good series to be part of as it’s a busy schedule with all the travel so it’s great preparation for The Ashes,” Wyatt-Hodge continued.

“We want to play as much as we can for England and, even at my age, playing Test cricket just hits different because it doesn’t come around often, so it’s always special putting that baggy cap on.

“We’ve not chatted about it [The Ashes] much at all. It’s all about being present and living in the moment, which we want to do.”