Proteas focussed on net run rate in must-win World Cup matches

Locked in a tight battle for places in the playoffs, South Africa will be focussed on scoring quickly and containing their opposition in their last two group matches of the T20 Women’s World Cup, according to all-rounder Nadine de Klerk.

While England had settled in top spot in Group B with four points, the Proteas, West Indies and Bangladesh had each accumulated two points.

ALSO READ: Proteas women didn’t take their chances against England, Wolvaardt admits

This placed the SA team under a bit of pressure, needing to win their remaining two games against Scotland in Dubai on Wednesday (noon SA time) and Bangladesh on Saturday to guarantee their spot in the semifinals.

And with only two teams in their group progressing to the semifinals, De Klerk stressed how crucial it was for the national side to raise their net run rate as much as possible, in case it became a deciding factor in terms of which teams qualified for the playoffs.

As the lowest-ranked team in the group, Scotland offered an opportunity for them to do just that on Wednesday if they could thump their unfancied opposition.

“Net run rate in these short competitions is always really important, so our main focus is obviously on the game against Scotland and how we go about our business,” De Klerk said.

“Obviously we want to win the game first, and then focus on net run rate and those sorts of things.”

Unknown opposition

The Proteas have played Scotland only once, back in 2009 (when they won by 130 runs), so the current squad have no experience against the Scottish side.

But Scotland are ranked 11th in the T20 format, five places below South Africa, and the Proteas will turn out as firm favourites to keep their playoff hopes alive.

After coasting to a comfortable victory over West Indies in their opening game of the tournament last week, they were edged by England in a closely contested match on Monday night, but De Klerk felt they had played well enough thus far to remain confident of their chances in an attempt to lift their first World Cup trophy.

“We’re still very confident within this group. I think we’ve played some really good cricket and we’ll take those positives into this game,” De Klerk said.

“We haven’t played Scotland before, so it’s a bit of unknown territory, but there is confidence in the troops and the mindset is really good, so we’re very excited to get cracking.”