Several concerns for Proteas Women ahead of T20 World Cup

Fans leaving Buffalo Park on Wednesday evening would have been puzzled when weighing up the Proteas’ chances at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Bangladesh.

The Proteas suffered a 2-1 T20 series loss to Sri Lanka thanks to a four-wicket defeat in the decider in East London, meaning their last series win came over Ireland in June 2022. 

Adding to the cheerless stats, the Proteas picked up their ninth loss in 15 T20 matches, a scenario all-rounder Nadine de Klerk said was frustrating. 

Chasing a tricky target of 156, Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu played arguably the best captain’s knock in her T20 career.

The 34-year-old veteran smashed a career-best 73 off 46 balls, hitting seven fours and five sixes to help guide Sri Lanka to their first-ever T20 series win in SA. 

The series was the last for 2023 T20 World Cup runners-up SA before the global showpiece in September.

Team coach Hilton Moreeng had made it clear he was using the series to see where the team was positioned.

He tested new combinations in the batting and bowling departments over the three matches.

“We have tried a few things in the series,” De Klerk said. 

“That’s obviously no excuse for the couple of losses.

“We’ve tried a few different bowlers at different times, the same with our playing 11, we’ve played around to see who’s the best fit going into the World Cup.

“But I think you do want a bit of momentum as well.

“You don’t want to go to the World Cup having struggled in the T20 format.

“I really hope we can take a lot of learning and positives away from these couple of games, even the first one that we won.

“And keep finding ways to bounce back and win games of cricket, especially in the T20 format,” she said. 

The inability of the middle order to contribute runs and to capitalise on the solid foundation set by the top order is among Moreeng’s major concerns.

De Klerk said the team needed to improve their approach in playing the slower bowlers heading to the subcontinent where they will be bombarded with spin. 

“We know going to the subcontinent there’s going to be a lot of spin thrown at us and I think it’s just the way we go about it,” De Klerk said. 

“I think we’ve batted well in the last three games, scoring close to 200 in the first game and getting close to 160 today.

“We’ve played the spinners well and I think that’s going to be important going forward.

“The same with our bowlers. We need to adapt to those sorts of conditions where it’s slow and low.

“And definitely, the fielding has to be better.

“We have to take our opportunities, we have to stop the runs because big batters and big players are going to hurt you.”

Though disappointment will be the mood in the Proteas’ camp, they will quickly need to shift their attention to the 50-over format. 

They play the first of three ODI matches against the Sri Lankans in East London on Tuesday, followed by games in Kimberley and Potchefstroom.

“I think we are a really good ODI side and we’ve had a lot more success in the last couple of months with ODI cricket as well,” De Klerk said. 

“We have a short break. We’ll reflect and obviously try to bounce back as quickly as we can for the first ODI.”

DispatchLIVE