Focus on positives heading into semis
PROTEAS bowler Sune Luus chose to look at the positives from their ICC Women’s World Cup defeat against Australia in Taunton on Saturday.
Luus believes that, even though the team fell 59 runs short in the end, the match went a long way in identifying areas the team need to work on before they face England in the semifinals in Bristol tomorrow.
“I think we had a great start with the ball,” she said.
“Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail started very well, but I think we just let it slip in the middle overs.
“The way we brought it back when it looked as though they would reach 300 or 320 was good as well.
“From a batting point of view, I think that although we lost Lizelle Lee early, the way Trisha Chetty and Laura Wolvaardt went about the first 20 to 25 overs was brilliant.”
The 21-year-old Luus took 5/67 against the defending champions, but she wants to do better.
“It’s always nice to take a five-for, but if the team doesn’t win, it’s not really as exciting as it should be,” she said.
It is only the second time ever that South Africa have qualified for the semifinal stage of the Women’s World Cup. The last time they achieved this was in 2000.
Luus hopes this will be the year that the team can make history and reach the final, but for this to happen she believes a more comprehensive performance is needed in all three disciplines of the game.
“All the departments need to work together finally as a unit.
“The bowlers need to bowl the middle overs as well as they do the first few and last few overs of the match,” she said.
“The batters need to not lose early wickets up front and wickets in clusters in the middle period.
“We need to also be really sharp when we field.”
That said, Luus is very proud of the team and their achievements.
“Our bowling attack has been very good in this tournament,” she said.
“With the exception of the game against England, I think we have shown we do have the best bowling attack in the world.
“The batting has really improved too. In previous tournaments, we could never get to 250, now we’re scoring 300s against England.”
Looking ahead to their match against the hosting nation, Luus said there was no gap to close now that both teams had reached the semis.
“I think everyone is equal once they have reached this stage. Both teams have done really well to get there,” she said.
Tomorrow’s semifinal will be broadcast live on SuperSport 6 from 11.15am.