Consistency key for Proteas Women as World Cup comes into focus

Having restored some confidence with a series-opening victory against India, the next step for the Proteas is to build consistency as the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup looms large on the horizon.

“We’re preparing for the World Cup; that’s what matters,” said seam bowler Ayabonga Khaka. “After this series we will know what works and doesn’t work for us.”

South Africa have lacked consistency throughout the season, winning six and losing five of their last 11 T20 Internationals. Part of the reason is the experimenting that has taken place, with both combinations and personnel.

Before Friday, Laura Wolvaardt had batted at No 3 in all the Proteas’ matches this season, with Sune Luus and Tazmin Brits at the top of the order. Brits came in at No 3 on Friday, although her poor form from New Zealand continued as she only scored 10. However, the Proteas captain made her first half-century in seven innings, suggesting the opener is where she belongs.

Among the other experiments was giving Annerie Dercksen more responsibility. She started to find form in New Zealand and notched up a crucial unbeaten 44 in Friday night’s run chase, while a few new faces, most notably Kayla Reyneke, have been added to the mix.

Journey to playoff spot

But South Africa need to begin stringing results together to give themselves a further lift ahead of the World Cup. Having finished runners-up in the last two tournaments, the journey to a playoff spot this year will be far from simple.

They will start against Australia on June 13, while India looms as another major challenge in the same group. Pakistan, who beat South Africa in Benoni in February, along with Bangladesh, will also prove to be tricky opponents.

By then they hope to have Marizanne Kapp fully fit. The veteran all-rounder is in the middle of a return-to-play programme and the warm-up matches in England will prove crucial for her.

The likes of Dercksen and Reyneke — who missed the first match of the series with flu symptoms — have managed to carry the run-scoring load in recent matches.

It is with the ball that Kapp has really been missed, which made Friday’s display, led by Khaka’s 3/16, so important. Tumi Sekhukhune took the crucial wickets of Shafali Verma and Jemima Rodriguez and appeared to have drawn some confidence from the good parts of her bowling in New Zealand.

“We’ve had tough [training] sessions in preparation for this series. We knew what went wrong in New Zealand, and [Friday] was all about us coming out and improving on the things that went wrong on that tour,” said Khaka.

Keshav’s input

Some of those sessions included input from Keshav Maharaj, who was in the home team’s dugout on Friday, and the performance of left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, who bowled with more variety and took 1/30, would have pleased him.

This afternoon’s second match against the current ODI World Champions — also at Kingsmead — provides different conditions, although it will be played on the same strip as Friday’s clash.

A day game makes the toss less important. Wolvaardt acknowledged that the ball skidded onto the bat under lights, making stroke play easier.

Khaka and Rodriguez both acknowledged that India will be better this afternoon. Rodriguez mentioned how India failed to seize on the good start by their openers and then again after she and captain Harmanpreet Kaur had shared a partnership of 71 for the third wicket.

The tourists won’t let opportunities like that pass by so casually again. India came into the series riding high on the confidence generated by their success in the 50-over format, which they followed by beating Australia in a three-match T20 series in February.