Proteas must get on the front foot
DO-OR-DIE: CANNOT STUMBLE AGAIN AFTER SRI LANKA SLIP
It is essentially a do-ordie game for the Proteas women’s team as they take on New Zealand in their second match of the ICC women’s T20 World Cup at Boland Park in Paarl tonight (7pm start).
After being shocked by Sri Lanka in their tournament opener at Newlands on Friday night, the Proteas can’t afford another loss, as that could end their chances of reaching the competition semifinals with just two teams from their pool of five qualifying for the semis.
A loss against New Zealand would mean that they would have to win their final three games to stand any chance of making the knockouts, which includes a game against the No 1-ranked team in the world and defending champs Australia.
“It is obviously a very important game against New Zealand coming up but as has already been shown, you cannot take any team lightly.
“So it’s all about doing the right things on the field and letting the result take care of itself,” said Proteas vice-captain Chloe Tryon in a pre-match press briefing yesterday.
Reflecting on the Sri Lankan defeat, Tryon admitted that the team, particularly the batting unit, weren’t up for the match, but she believed it was just a once-off poor performance and that they could get right back to winning ways.
“It was a difficult game to lose the way we did. As a group we are trying not to look into that result too much.
“We have been a quality side and playing really good cricket,” said Tryon.
“As a batting unit that one innings doesn’t define us. We just have to sort of park that result. We just need to improve our basics. I didn’t feel we did the right things as a batting unit. We had no partnerships and no one really put up their hand.
“So for us it’s just making sure that we do those basics right. I think if we can play our brand of cricket and keep ticking those boxes we can come up with the win.”