‘It’s do or die’: Proteas women hope to carry momentum into India clash
· Citizen
Having held on at the death to secure their first win of the tournament, top-order batter Annerie Dercksen admits the Proteas will need to figure out where they went wrong after getting off to a cracking start against Pakistan at the Women’s T20 World Cup.
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But they are confident they can build on that performance as they prepare for another crunch clash against India this weekend.
The SA team had Pakistan against the ropes at 50/8 in the first innings in Birmingham on Wednesday, with seam bowler Marizanne Kapp (3/23) spearheading the attack, but they lost their firm control of the game by allowing Fatima Sana and Tuba Hassan to put on 71 runs for the ninth wicket.
Chasing 127 runs to win, Dercksen hit 52 off 35 – her second career T20 International half-century – and Nadine de Klerk contributed 37 runs off 28, and while wickets tumbled around them, the Proteas managed to hold on for a hard fought two-wicket win.
“We’ll have to go back and review if there was something we could have done better… but I’m just happy we pulled it through,” said Dercksen, who was named Player of the Match.
‘Crucial’ victory
After losing their opening game against Australia in Manchester last week, the Proteas were relieved to bounce back and get some points on the board, climbing to second place in what has been labelled the ‘group of death’.
“This was crucial. It’s obviously always nice to get some momentum with a win,” Dercksen said.
“We’re well aware that every game now is sort of do or die for us, so we’re just looking forward to the next one now and we’re very happy that we could get some momentum going into that next game.”
Eager to pick up another big win against 50-over world champions India in Manchester on Sunday, the Proteas believed they would be ready.
They would also take some confidence from their 4-1 victory over India in a five-match T20 series on home soil in April.
“We’ll definitely have our plans in place,” Dercksen said.
“I think we’ve got a phenomenal bowling line-up, so hopefully they’ll be able to do what they did again today (against Pakistan), but they’re a quality batting line-up and a quality team, and we’ll definitely have to be on our A game.”