Proteas women. Picture: Twitter via @OfficialCSA
It is early days yet, but the South African women’s cricket team have sent out a strong message that they mean business at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup in England.
Wins over Pakistan and the West Indies, together with a no-result point against New Zealand, sees them sitting comfortably in third spot after three matches.
Much tougher assignments lie in store against England (in Bristol tomorrow), India and Australia, but if they can target next week’s match against Sri Lanka, and possibly get something out of one of the other fixtures, they could slip into the semifinals.
Sunday’s performance against the West Indies at Grace Road in Leceister was nothing short of brilliant. They won by 10 wickets after rolling their opponents for just 48 runs.
The Proteas’ openers hit the winning runs with 262 deliveries to spare – the largest remaining ball margin in World Cup history.
Captain Dane van Niekerk finished with the unbelievable figures of four wickets without conceding a run, while her world No 1 opening bowler Marizanne Kapp finished with figures of 4/14.
“The most important thing is to stay on top of our game,” said Van Niekerk. “We don’t want to underestimate anyone. We came here to win a World Cup and that’s what we’re going to work on doing.”
Wise words indeed.
