Strategy will be key for the Proteas

THE South African women’s team’s tour to the Antipodes includes more than just the ICC World T20 in Australia next month.

Starting next Saturday the Proteas play a critical three-match one-day international series against New Zealand in which crucial points in the ICC Women’s Championship are up for grabs. Those points determine which teams will gain automatic qualification for the 2021 50-over Women’s World Cup which will be held in New Zealand.

As hosts the “White Ferns” have already secured a spot in the tournament, while four other teams will also earn an automatic spot through the Women’s Championship – an eight-team tournament spanning two years, with teams facing each other in a minimum of three matches per series on a home and away basis.

Dane van Niekerk’s team currently occupy fifth place on the standings behind Pakistan on net run-rate and ahead of New Zealand by two points. One win against New Zealand will be vital to lift SA above Pakistan, while a series win would be a real bonus which would just about cement their spot at the World Cup next year.

And the Proteas will want to push for that series win because their next – and final – opponents in the Women’s Championship are Australia, who they have never beaten in an ODI. The Australians visit SA in March, and neither Van Niekerk nor head coach Hilton Moreeng will want to be in a position where the side must win in that series to secure automatic World Cup qualification.

Failure to finish in the top five would see SA forced into a qualification competition, which takes place later this year in Bangladesh. There the three team who didn’t qualify automatically will play in the World Cup qualifier tournament alongside Bangladesh and Ireland, and the winners of five regional events, for the last three World Cup spots.

That will be the furthest thing from the SA players’ minds however. They have just come through a tough training camp at Cricket SA’s High Performance Centre in Tshwane, and will have five weeks together before the World T20 starts for them in Perth on 23 February against England.

That should help solidify bonds, while the time away out of the spotlight will also allow preparation for that tournament to take place in a relaxed environment. “Starting in New Zealand helps with acclimatisation for the players,” Moreeng said. “We will have seven games before the first game (against England) we can juggle the squad and look at a few options. The planning has been very good, and strategy will be key.”

SA can work on some of those strategies in the five-match T20 series against New Zealand, which follows the ODI series and then two pre-tournament warm-up games against Thailand and Australia respectively. SA ODI squad for series vs New Zealand: Dane Van Niekerk, (capt), Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Mignon Du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Tumi Sekhukhune, Trisha Chetty, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine De Klerk, Nondumiso Shangase