Catching up with the Protea Women’s Lizelle Lee
“THE quicker it comes the quicker it goes.”
That is the Proteas opener Lizelle Lee’s simple philosophy to batting, along with a healthy portion of “baked beans and sausages” for breakfast.
It was certainly a winning recipe for Lee on Saturday with the powerful righthander smashing a blistering 92 off just 65 balls (10x4, 7x6) to power her team to a 115-run win over India at the ICC Women’s World Cup.
The victory was crucially important in the context of the push to the semi-finals with South Africa involved in a five-way bun fight for a place in the last four.
The Proteas desperately required a win over one of their main rivals. Lee’s pyrotechnics display upfront, along with captain Dane van Niekerk’s half-century towards the back end, ensured South Africa took two points off a team they have encountered quite a bit in recent times.
“We have played against them a lot of times now,” Lee explained. “That helped me in my game today. The pitch also did not do much which helped.
“We knew from the beginning that we needed to put at least 270 on the board. At one stage out when we were batting, 300 was on target for us, but then we had a bit of a collapse. Dane then had one helluva innings for us and we ended on 270-odd.”
The success Lee and Van Niekerk enjoyed was particularly pleasing due to the hard work the duo put in the lead up to the game. The pair were seen practising their “power game” together, and the extra hours certainly reaped dividends with Lee punishing India’s much-vaunted spin attack.
“She (van Niekerk) said she wanted to go to the pitch and try to hit the ball straight. I said I wanted to join,” Lee said.
“In the first few balls, I just tried to hit at as hard I can, and just missed. Power-hitting is about knowing you still have to keep your shape when you are doing it.
“It is just not about the power, it is the timing. We have worked on it, and it shows. They (spin bowlers) bowled a bit faster. The faster the better for me. I don’t mind it, the quicker it comes the quicker it goes.”
South Africa should have a relatively easier ride when they face Sri Lanka on Wednesday at Taunton, although the Proteas cannot let any form of complacency creep into their game right now.
They will need a minimum of at least one victory from their final two matches to progress to the semi-finals and will not want to be faced with a must-win situation when coming up against the strapping Aussies.