SA women to use local knowledge

THERE were no South African players in the Brisbane Heat team that won this year’s Women’s Big Bash League T20 tournament but the Proteas players who did participate in the 2019/20 competition certainly made an impression, which has added to the confidence in the squad for this year’s Women’s World T20.

All six South African participants in this season’s WBBL were included in the 15-player squad that left for New Zealand last night for five T20 Internationals before hopping over the ditch to prepare in Australia ahead of their opening game against England in Perth on February 23.

Lizelle Lee and Mignon du Preez were among the top 10 runscorers in the WBBL this season, while South Africa vice-captain Chloe Tryon had the highest strike rate for any batter who scored over 200 runs.

Marizanne Kapp, Dané van Niekerk and Shabnim Ismail all performed well with the ball as well, gaining familiarity with conditions, which Proteas skipper Van Niekerk believes will stand the team in good stead.

“Everyone did well and I think that’s why there is a lot of positivity,” said Van Niekerk.

“Suné (Luus) and Laura (Wolvaardt) won the Big Bash last year, so there are a lot of positives about what we’ve experienced over there individually and the conditions we can expect.

“On paper this is the fittest team we’ve sent,” she said. “Everyone has been working really hard and it’s just exciting to have a full strength team.

“We’ve come a long way together – some of us for 10 years and that’s a big difference. We feel we’ve put in the hard yards and it is time for it to pay off.”

Fitness and experience – that latter not just of international cricket but of the conditions in which they will play this year’s tournament – have raised the level of self-belief in the group, despite a difficult last 12 months.

Van Niekerk and Tryon missed the tour to India, where the Proteas lost ODI and T20 series, and there has been a general trend downwards in form since the highs of the 2017 50-over World Cup.

The T20 World Cup the following year was a bitter disappointment with the team failing to qualify for the final four – a target that is certainly on the radar this year.

“The 2018 ICC World T20 hurt us so badly and the girls have wanted to come back, we’ve worked extremely hard,” said head coach Hilton Moreeng.

“You see with some of the players that they are feeling the pressure, but that is good.”

Van Niekerk was typically forthright in terms of her expectations of this year’s squad.

“There is always going to be pressure, it is there in every form of international cricket. When you go to a world cup, and you are ‘iffy’ about it or negative, then don’t bother rocking up. As a team you have to go there confident … if I stand here going, ‘guys, I’m not sure why we are going’,” she said.

SQUAD

Dané van Niekerk (capt), Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp, Suné Luus, Chloe Tryon, Shabnim Ismail, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Tumi Sekhukhune, Trisha Chetty, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk, Nondumiso Shangase