Proteas women confident of reaching T20 World Cup playoffs again

While they’re trying not to put too much pressure on themselves, Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt believes her team can repeat their breakthrough performance at last year’s T20 Women’s World Cup when they turn out at the latest edition of the tournament.

The national team, who reached the T20 World Cup final in Cape Town last year, will open their campaign at the global showpiece in the United Arab Emirates on Friday when they face former champions West Indies in Dubai (starting at noon SA time).

Aside from West Indies, the Proteas will meet England (also former T20 World Cup winners), Bangladesh and Scotland in Group B, with the top two teams in the group qualifying for the semifinals.

“I think T20 cricket is such a fickle format. Obviously last year was great but we’re just looking to take it one game at a time,” Wolvaardt said.

“It’s a very difficult pool, but hopefully we can make the semi-finals and then anything can happen after that.”

Aiming to make history

Though she admitted it was going to be a significant challenge, Wolvaardt was confident her team could put up a fight in an attempt to lift South Africa’s first World Cup cricket trophy.

“I think we’re a very talented group of players. We’ve had a few ups and downs in recent times but I like to think we’ve put in a lot of good, hard work and have a lot of really clear plans heading into this World Cup.

“Hopefully we’re peaking at the right time, and I think if we all play our best cricket then we stand a really good chance.”

Unfazed by warm-up defeats

In the build-up to the tournament, the SA team lost both their warm-up matches against New Zealand and India, but Wolvaardt wasn’t too concerned about those results.

“In both games we weren’t playing our strongest 11. We tried a few things here and there and didn’t play our normal bowling attack,” the skipper said.

“It was just about getting used to the conditions, and I think we’ve had some very fruitful conversations about those warm-up games.

“I think we could have taken a few smarter options with the bat, but we’ve had a few good chats about it and hopefully we’re able to rectify that in the real game.

“There’s nothing that matches a World Cup in terms of energy. I think everyone will be really pumped when they’re out there on the field and give 120%, so I’m really excited.”