Proteas women pumped up and ready for rare fixture at SuperSport Park

Having played the first two matches of the series at smaller venues, all-rounder Annerie Dercksen says the Proteas women’s side are looking forward to making a rare appearance at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Saturday night (6pm start), as they aim to pull one back in the third and final T20 International against England.

Having narrowly lost the first match of the T20 series in East London by four wickets, the SA team went on to fall in a more comprehensive defeat as they were handed a 36-run loss in the second game in Benoni.

And while they had already lost the series, Dercksen said they were hoping to produce their best performance thus far in front of what was expected to be a lively crowd at the world-renowned SuperSport Park stadium.

Rare opportunity

While the national men’s team regularly play in Centurion on home tours, the women’s side often play at smaller grounds, and this will be their first T20 International at SuperSport Park since February 2019.

“I think it’s a great privilege for us, and for myself, to play at SuperSport Park. I think it’s a great stadium,”  Dercksen said yesterday.

“It will probably be similar conditions to Benoni – a great outfield with a good, fast wicket – and we don’t often get the opportunity to play here and I think the team is really looking forward to it.

“Hopefully we can get a good crowd to come and support us and we can play a good game of cricket.”

Playing for pride

With England holding an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, Dercksen said the Proteas were hungry to pick up a win and prevent a clean sweep in the early stages of a month-long home tour which also included three ODI fixtures and a Test match.

With a quick turnaround between series, Dercksen said they were eager to take momentum from the T20 campaign into the ODI series which starts in Kimberley next week.

“There’s still a lot of pride in [tonight’s match], and we’re still playing for our country, so we’re really looking to make ourselves and our country proud,” Dercksen said.