Moreeng on Women’s Cricket World Cup: ‘Great opportunity for players’

The Proteas women are prepared and ready to get their ICC Women’s World Cup campaign underway as they take on Bangladesh in their first match of the tournament on Saturday morning (match starts at 12am).

The team managed to get in two warm up games in Christchurch on Sunday and Wednesday, before heading off to Dunedin on Thursday, where they will kick start their World Cup challenge.

Although the team had a tough time in the two warm up games – they were edged by two runs by India, before going down against defending champs England by six wickets – coach Hilton Moreeng was very happy with the time out in the middle.

“The biggest challenge for us was getting everyone out of MIQ (quarantine) and making sure everyone was fit and ready to go,” explained Moreeng.

“So the build up has been good and we have already experienced some very challenging conditions. The players really needed time in the middle so we are happy to have had these two opportunities to rotate the squad and give everyone a go.

“I think the biggest thing to take from these warm up games is the acclimatisation of the conditions, to make sure our bowlers start hitting their strides and getting into their rhythm and for the batters to get a feeling in the middle, and I think we got all of that.”

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The team are now ready to take on a side they have not faced in recent times, so they will need to be at their very best to make sure they are not surprised by a team that they are widely expected to beat.

“Bangladesh are normally a team that pride themselves on their spinners. They are a team that is always improving and although we haven’t played them (recently) they’re a team we have been keeping tabs on,” admitted Moreeng.

“So as a squad we are very happy with what we have seen so far and we know that it is going to be a challenging first game.

“We have a few World Cup debutants, so there will be nerves in representing your country on the biggest stage. But it is a great opportunity for the players to show what they can do. So everyone is looking forward to the game against Bangladesh and they can’t wait to start.”

Following their opening match the Proteas move on to play Pakistan, England, New Zealand, Australia, West Indies and India, with the top four teams from the round robin phase then going on to the semifinals.

“With the World Cup and the way it is structured if you play good cricket you give yourself a good chance to make it to the knockout stage,” said Moreeng.

“We will be approaching every game separately. Different teams have different styles of play and pose different threats to us, so we just have to make sure that we are as prepared as we can be.”