Bosch confident Proteas women can hit back against England

Despite having been beaten in four of their five matches so far on their home tour, Proteas top-order batter Anneke Bosch says the national women’s cricket team are confident of beating England in their ODI series decider in Potchefstroom on Wednesday (2pm start).

After going down 3-0 in their three-match T20 series, the Proteas hit back to win the first ODI in Kimberley last week, but they were thumped again in the second match in Durban.

ALSO READ: Proteas women fall in crushing defeat as England level series

In neither ODI clash did the losing team put up much of a fight, with both games being one-sided affairs, and Bosch said the hosts believed they could hit back again.

“We had a couple of tough conversations after the second game. We obviously didn’t apply ourselves and execute our game plans as we wanted to,” Bosch said yesterday.

“Credit to England because they played well and put us under a lot of pressure with the quick wickets they got after the first drinks break.

“So we had a couple of good conversations and we’re ready for the next game. Hopefully the result will be better than it was in Durban.”

Bouncing back

Having missed the first two games of the ODI series, Bosch was expected to turn out today in the third and final clash, with the series level at 1-1.

She felt they had proved they could beat a powerful England side by coasting to a six-wicket victory in the opening match of the series, and she insisted they could do it once more.

“The way we played that first ODI after the T20 series showed our ability to bounce back,” said Bosch, an experienced player who has contested 72 international matches across all formats.

“We did get two of our main bowlers back (Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka) and that obviously helped the team a lot in terms of confidence.

“I don’t think we’ll look too much at the second game that we lost. Though we will take the learnings from that, I think knowing that we have beaten them quite convincingly and knowing that we can do it again, we’re ready for it and up for the challenge.”