Proteas panicked against Windies

IT seems the dreaded “C word” is not the sole domain of Proteas men’s teams at major ICC tournaments.

Dane van Niekerk, the articulate leader of the women’s side, preferred the term “panic” after the disappointing 31-run loss to hosts West Indies at the ICC World T20 on Wednesday night, but “choke” would have been equally appropriate. All the elements were familiar. The Darren Sammy Cricket Ground was heaving to the rhythms of Soca with the locals filling the stadium to capacity in fervent support of the home team. And on the stroke of the 11th over into the Proteas’ chase, when opener Lizelle Lee was dismissed, they found their full voice.

Van Niekerk’s team simply had no coping methods to counter the marauding maroon machine after that. The Proteas lost their remaining nine wickets for just 26 runs during that period, which included the customary three frantic run outs, of which Van Niekerk was herself a victim.

“Sometimes we find a way to make it difficult for ourselves. We spoke about keeping wickets in hand because we saw on a wicket like this, the bulk of the runs are scored at the back end,” Van Niekerk said after the Proteas were bundled out for just 76. “I thought that was the thinking of the batters in the middle. Just keep steady, keep rotating the strike. We will try to win the game in the 19th over, but it looks like there was a bit of panic stations at the end there.”

The South African batting unit have flirted with danger since arriving in the Caribbean. Both warm-up matches were lost due to the batters’ failings. Even the victory over Sri Lanka in the opening game was due to the bowlers, with the batsmen doing just enough to get to the 100run target.