‘SA women playing never-say-die cricket’

Andrie Steyn is impressed with how the Proteas women have begun to find a way to emerge victorious in their close-finishing matches during this year’s inbound tour against Sri Lanka.

SA have twice in four fixtures found themselves in tight endings, winning by two wickets in the second T20 international in Johannesburg with one ball to spare and taking the first ODI by seven runs.

The visitors had, at a time, needed to bat at a run a ball for what would have been their first win so far.

While Steyn admits that it is not ideal for SA to find themselves in those situations too often, the opening batter is delighted to see that her side is beginning to live the brand of cricket to which they have committed.

“It’s a never-say-die, don’tpanic, fight-to-the-very-end type of cricket that we have begun to play.

“It’s really pleasing that we have come out on the winning side of all the close games that we have found ourselves in lately,” she said.

“Dané [van Niekerk] talks a lot about our attacking brand of cricket and we are living it, not only when we bat and bowl, but in our fielding as well.

“It’s those game changing moments like Tumi’s [Sekhukhune] catch in the Joburg T20 that can turn a match on its head.

“I think we’ve learnt a lot in the past when it comes to pressure situations,” she said.

“We’ve learnt not to panic because in the past we would sort of fold in situations like that and that’s the senior players stepping up now but not only that, the juniors seeing that example being set and following that.”

The home side’s win saw them take a 1-0 lead in the three-match One-Day series and Steyn believes that it will do wonders for the team’s confidence as they look to make further gains in the ICC Women’s Championship log.

She and captain Van Niekerk shared a match-winning 117-run, third-wicket stand that saw her notch up her fourth ODI half-century (75 off 100 balls) and the skipper her maiden ODI century (102 off 117 balls).

“I think it’s very big [the confidence boost], especially with the ICC Championship.

“I mean, our goal is to get six points from these three games to give ourselves the best chance to qualify [for the 2021 ICC Women’s World Cup],” Steyn said.

“So it’s a massive confidence booster, especially because it was such a close game and we pulled it through.

“We can only improve from that.”

On the influence that Van Niekerk had on her batting out in the middle, Steyn said: “I think we executed our plans really well, especially after losing those two wickets up front.

“I really enjoyed batting with her, she definitely made me calm down a bit when I was close to my 50.”

The hosts find themselves on the brink of another series win if they can successfully clinch Thursday’s fixture at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom.