Proteas women in search of momentum ahead of World Cup semis

The Proteas women are targeting a winning finish to the pool stages of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup when they take on India at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Sunday morning (3am SA time).

It has been a successful campaign for the Proteas so far, securing second spot on the log and a place in the semis with a game to play, but they will want to win their last pool match against India to take momentum into the knockouts.

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After winning their first four matches of the tournament, the Proteas suffered their only loss so far against Australia on Tuesday, before their match on Thursday against the West Indies was washed out.

They will thus be keen for a big performance to give them plenty of confidence ahead of next week’s semifinal and possible final.

“We are very excited to have made the semis. It’s a World Cup and how you get into the semis doesn’t really matter as long as you get there, so as a unit we are very happy,” said Proteas captain Sune Luus.

“It was disappointing not to get in a game (against the West Indies) but I think our bodies needed an extra bit of recovery before our game against India on Sunday, so we will take that extra rest.”

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The Proteas also still have a big part to play in the final standings with the West Indies, England and India all battling it out for the final two semi spots.

And though they will only know their semi-final opponents after Sunday’s match, Luus admits the national team don’t have a preference of who they will come up against.

“I think all the teams are quality and every game is going to be hard fought, so we don’t have a preference on who we would like to face in the semis. But I think we are ready for England or India, whoever makes it,” said Luus.

“So we are preparing for both teams and obviously having India on Sunday will give us a good indication if we get them in the semifinal, so it doesn’t really matter who we play at the end of the day.

“We are still going to have to get into that final and we are going to have to play our best cricket and beat a quality team to get there.”