Proteas women aiming to go unbeaten at T20 World Cup

Though a victory against England today would give the Proteas a near clean run to the playoffs, top-order batter Tazmin Brits insists they are not underestimating the rest of the opposition in their group at the T20 Women’s World Cup.

The SA team eased their way to a commanding 10-wicket victory over West Indies in their opening match on Friday, with Brits (57 not out) and Laura Wolvaardt (59 not out) combining in an unbroken 119-run partnership for the first wicket, after Nonkululeko Mlaba returned 4/29 to lead the Proteas attack.

After Monday’s match against former champions England in Sharjah (4pm SA time), the Proteas will face less fancied teams Scotland and Bangladesh in their remaining Group B games.

Wary of all teams

And while Brits said they were eager to beat England, she claimed they were not taking any of their opponents for granted as they looked to book their spot in the playoffs.

“We’ve got a big game against England. As everyone knows, that’s always a tough one, but we don’t want to leave it until the last game,” Brits said.

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“If we can make sure we win all our games that will be ideal, to make sure we guarantee that spot in the semifinal.

“We never take teams lightly, even if it’s Scotland. They’re very hungry and it’s their first World Cup, so I don’t think there are walkover teams.”

Finding form

In the build-up to the T20 World Cup, Brits failed to score in a T20 International against Pakistan last month, as well as a World Cup warm-up game against New Zealand last week.

She was pleased, however, that her hard work was paying off at the right time.

“I’ve put in the hard yards, so somewhere along the line it’s got to come off, whether it’s a World Cup final or the first game of a World Cup, I’m just happy that I made the fifty, and I’ve already put those golden ducks kind of behind,” Brits said.

“I actually make a joke about it and try to be positive. At least I didn’t waste any balls by doing that, so I guess it was a good thing.”