Johannesburg - Despite a bump in the road against Australia, the Proteas are still hugely confident as they approach a crucial match against the West Indies in Wellington on Thursday in search of the one victory needed to secure a semi-final spot in the 2022 ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The encounter starts at 11am local time at the Basin Reserve in the city dubbed “Windy Wellington”, with the action broadcast live on SuperSport Grandstand from 12 midnight (SA time).
South Africa suffered their first loss of the competition on Tuesday against Australia after four straight wins, going down by five wickets to a Meg Lanning-inspired Aussie team that chased down the Proteas Women’s score of 271/ 5 following Lanning’s 135 not out off 130 balls (15 fours, 1 six).
Despite the result, Proteas opening batter, Laura Wolvaardt impressed with her fourth consecutive score of 50 or more, recording her best of the campaign of 90 off 134 balls (6x4) to at one point become the tournament’s leading run scorer with 350 runs in five innings before Lanning’s second inning’s display.
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“(We are) still pretty confident,” Proteas captain, Suné Luus said on the team’s psyche following the result against the No 1 ranked Australia.
“Obviously yesterday didn’t go the way we planned, but that is cricket. Tomorrow, we have a great opportunity to rectify some things we didn’t do as well yesterday and a great opportunity for us to secure that semi-final spot and just play good cricket,” she added.
Ahead of the all-important clash against the West indies, South Africa have a recent history against the Caribbean outfit having played them in back-to-back bilateral series home and away and most recently, overcoming them 2-1 in a hotly-contested One-Day series in Johannesburg in January.
Those exciting encounters were preceded by a 4-1 series win for South Africa away in the West Indies in September last year, when the Proteas were denied a whitewash in the last game by a Super Over victory for the home side.
The overall record in One-Day International cricket between the two sides reads in favour of the South Africans, having come out on top on 16 occasions in 32 matches, with the Windies winning 10, while six games ended as a tie (3) and no result (3).
On having played them prior to the World Cup, Luus said: “That series helped us a lot in preparing for this game.
The #MomentumProteas vice-captain's vast skills as an all-rounder have been a key facet to the team's success over the years🔑
— Cricket South Africa (@OfficialCSA) March 23, 2022
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2️⃣ / 1️⃣ 0️⃣ best figures#CWC22 #BePartOfTheForce #AlwaysRising pic.twitter.com/I5UDZaC2yp
“I think we know all the players pretty well and we know what their gameplan is going to be, and it is just for us to stick to our gameplans and keep doing the basics right, and to make sure we are very clinical,” the all-rounder continued.
With five matches played by South Africa in the tournament, patterns have emerged and one of the key markers for the Proteas so far has been the batting partnerships between Wolvaardt and Luus.
The pair have amassed 341 runs in the last four matches when at the crease together, recording crucial, stabilising and sometimes game-changing stands for their side, beginning with an 89-run stand against Pakistan, followed by 73 and 88 against England and New Zealand respectively.
In the last match, the pair combined for 91 runs to take the game to Australia to become the most profitable duo in the tournament with the bat.
#MomentumProteas Tumi Sekhukhune and Mignon du Preez talk positives from a competitive #CWC22 encounter against Australia💪
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“We have a great understanding in the middle,” Luus explained regarding the pair’s success. “We trust each other between the wicket with the running and we are just batting well together at the moment,” she added.
“Laura is world class. I know she always measures herself against a Meg Lanning or some of the greatest batters in the world, but I think she is up there as well, and you always have to remember she is only 22 and she is breaking records already.
“She has been phenomenal, and she has been the glue for our batting line-up,” Luus noted when speaking about her batting partner.
Following the West Indies match, the Proteas travel back to Christchurch for the final game of the league phase of the competition to face 2017 finalists, India at Hagley Oval on Sunday.
IOL Sport