Cape Town - South Africa skipper Sune Luus has backed her experienced squad to peak at the right time as they target glory at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022.
The Proteas begin their campaign against debutants Bangladesh in Dunedin on Saturday with a side containing numerous survivors from the 2017 tournament, which saw them narrowly beaten by eventual winners England in the last four.
With stalwarts such as Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail each now into their 30s, this tournament could represent the final chance for South Africa’s settled squad to go all the way and Luus is determined to seize it.
“We have played a couple of World Cups together but this is the ultimate one for us,” she said.
“For a lot of our experienced players, this is their big one. Hopefully, we can make it count and make it an enjoyable one.
“We have a well-balanced team and if all three departments fire, we can beat any team in the world.
“The challenge for us is to get all three skills on the day to fire and make sure we do that consistently. We are all feeling pretty confident. We had a run around the park today and it’s a pretty cool scene here in Dunedin, it’s a very nice ground and we’re all excited to get going.”
South Africa will be missing one of their key players against Bangladesh, with Lizelle Lee still seeing out her spell in quarantine following a delayed arrival due to the birth of her first child.
Tazmin Brits has been entrusted with the opener vacancy alongside Laura Wolvaardt in South Africa’s two warm-up matches, defeats against England and India, and Luus hopes to see the 31-year-old stake a claim to stay in the side once the competitive action gets underway.
“We always knew she [Lee] wouldn’t be available for the first game so we’ve given a couple of players a run up front and hopefully we’ve got the combination right,” she said.
“Hopefully she’ll (Britz) make it difficult for Lizelle to come back into the side.
“For us, the warm-ups were all about assessing the conditions and taking out of it what we could.
“There were a lot of positives and it gave a lot of players some game time and confidence in the middle as well.”
The identity of South Africa’s opponents in their opening match also holds a special significance for Luus, who made her international debut against Bangladesh in 2012.
“It was pretty cool – the stadium was full and it was one of the best experiences of my life,” she recalled. They are a very good side and you know every game will be a challenge in a World Cup. You can’t take any team lightly so our standards and intensity will be the same.
“Captaining my country in a World Cup is a great opportunity and something I’ve dreamt about for many years. I’m hoping I can lead from the front and pull the team towards victory.”
IOL Sport