The Proteas Women were outclassed by England and suffered a 36-run loss at the Willowmoore Park in Benoni on Wednesday night.
England take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, and the South Africans will have to wait a little longer to break their duck against the former world champions.
Set a target of 205 to win, South Africa were always chasing the game and needed to maintain a rate over 10 to keep the series alive with one game to play.
Coming into the series, the Proteas were in the strongest position to win their first series against England, following their achievements in the last two ICC events, where they reached the T20 World Cup finals in 2023 and 2024.
The series also offered an opportunity to show that they can not only do well in knockout competition, but they can compete with the best in a bilateral series.
The four-wicket loss in the first match at Buffalo Park in East London dented their hopes, but the series was still alive as the second T20 encounter got under way.
Laura Wolvaardt inserted the visitors into the bat, and they duly accepted the invitation with open arms as they feasted on a seemingly good batting surface.
South Africa did not do themselves any favours as they struggled to settle on to a consistent length, and were on the receiving end of a lot of punishment from the willows of Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt.
The pair scored half-centuries and put on a stand of 112 for the fourth wicket following the early loss of Maia Bouchier (nine) and Sophia Dunkley (zero) with only 15 runs on the board, as 20-year-old Ayanda Hlubi made inroads with two wickets in three balls.
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Ayanda Hlubi strikes with two wickets in her first over to put England on the back foot 💥💥
📺 Stream #SAvENG on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw #HereForHer | #SummerOfCricket pic.twitter.com/UWpdb10XQt
South Africa were given a reprieve when the Willowmoore Park floodlights failed, and the game had to be stopped with only nine overs bowled and England cruising at 83/2.
The lights came back and continued to shine on the visitors. Chloe Tryon’s 10th over carried on the trend of conceding a high percentage of boundaries and very little dot balls as it went for 15.
Nadine de Klerk was the pick of the SA bowlers, and she broke the Wyatt-Hodge and Sciver-Brunt stand.
But that still didn’t stop the heavy flow of runs, with captain Heather Knight joining in on the act with Sciver-Brunt to add 54 runs, guiding England to 204/4.
South Africa conceded 136 runs in boundaries, and they would have hoped for something similar from opener Tazmin Brits.
But her innings only lasted two balls, with Sciver-Brunt doing the damage with the ball this time.
Nadine de Klerk is the second youngest @ProteasWomenCSA bowler to take 50 wickets 🇿🇦🙌
📺 Stream #SAvENG on DStv: https://t.co/rM90YyQxaw #HereForHer | #SummerOfCricket pic.twitter.com/EoDYl4ZGXf
The Proteas limped to 30/1 at the end of the powerplay, and their road back into the match and their series hopes were heading to a dead end.
Captain Wolvaardt (25) and Annerie Dercksen (24) got starts, but they couldn’t convert into big scores as England came out on top.
Brief Scores
England 204/4 (Sciver-Brunt 67 off 43, 9x4, 1x6; Wyatt-Hodge (78 off 45, 15x4, 1x6; De Klerk 2/36)
South Africa 168/6 (De Klerk 32 off 21; Tryon 30 off 24; Glenn 4/20)