South African women will hope to douse the flame of the torchbearers

“HE who climbs Mount Fuji once is a wise man. He who climbs it twice is a fool.”

This is, of course, an oldage Japanese proverb relating to the ascent of the iconic 3 776 meter active volcano.

But that is virtually the challenge that awaits the Proteas women’s squad this week.

Having earned the right to celebrate qualification for the ICC Women’s World Cup semifinal on Wednesday – the first since 2000 – they would have awoken with the sobering prospect that undoubtedly the biggest seven days of their cricket careers awaits them.

Even before next week’s semi-final can be focused upon, South Africa face up to defending champions Australia in their final round-robin match at Taunton.

Although the result does not have any bearing for either team in regards to progressing to the semi-finals, there is a far greater context and meaning to the contest.

South Africa have never defeated Australia in an ODI in 14 attempts, with the best-ever result for the Proteas being a tied-fixture, and victory would undoubtedly raise the self-belief within the squad to even greater heights.

The damning statistic, though, is not simply a poor reflection on South Africa but instead highlights the fact that the Aussies are undoubtedly the torchbearers of the standards that women cricketers around the world aspire to.

Meg Lanning’s side are hunting down a record seventh World Cup title here in England. Although Lanning has been suffering from a shoulder injury throughout the tournament that is hampering her progress, she is still second on the overall batting charts with 328 runs – only two runs behind England’s Tammy Beaumont – at the vastly superior average of 109.33.

The Australian captain is not the only danger though. Dynamic all-rounder Ellyse Perry is in a similar rich vein of form with 311 runs at an average of 103.66.

Perry has been even more effective against the Proteas, with the “Sydneysider” smashing 327 ODI runs across her five innings against South Africa at an at average of 163.5.

“I think a round of applause needs to go our ladies first. We came here, nobody expected anything from us, but we knew the qualities we had. We feel, where we at right now, we starting to play good cricket. The girls are gelling nicely,” Proteas coach Hilton Moreeng said.

“Our first goal coming to England was to reach the knockout phase, which we have done, and they deserve every accolade that comes their way now.

“But we realise that if we want to be the best in the world, you need to start winning these games. They are the defending champions. They come with everything they have.”

Instead of being daunted by the challenge that awaits his team and management staff, Moreeng is actually excited with the timing of the contest. He believes the match will serve up an ideal opportunity for the Proteas to fine-tune a few skills against quality opposition ahead of the knockout stages.

“It’s good that it’s a game before the semi-finals because we can test one or two things to see where we are as a team which is preparation for that semi-final. We have quality players in our side, and where we are a team now, I think it will be a very exciting game for us,” Moreeng explained.

South Africa are unlikely to change their starting line-up too much on Saturday with an eye on the semi-finals next week. Moreeng is confident his players are “fresh” and that their workloads are being managed well.