OPINION: Proteas women need to sharpen up if they reach World Cup playoffs

If they miss out on a place in the semifinals at the T20 Women’s World Cup, the Proteas can only blame themselves.

And if they do progress, they’re going to need to pick up their socks and sharpen up in multiple areas during the playoffs.

After losing to England last week, the national team found themselves needing to raise their net run rate as much as possible in order to give themselves their best chance of making it to the knockout stages.

Not aggressive enough

Going into their last group match against Bangladesh in Dubai at the weekend, winning the game was of course most important, but they also needed to contain their opposition as much as possible and score as quickly as they could.

While the bowlers did well, led by Marizanne Kapp and Nkululeko Mlaba, the fielding was sloppy, with the Proteas again dropping catches.

Then, chasing 107 runs to win, they did not show enough intensity or aggression. With eight overs left in their innings, they needed just 31 runs with eight wickets in hand, but in an ideal position to pick up the pace, over the next three overs they scored just 11 runs.

Ultimately it took them a lot longer than it should have for them to reach their target, and though they did win by seven wickets, they did themselves no favours in trying to qualify for the playoffs.

Relying on England

Now they are in an uncomfortable situation, needing England to beat the West Indies on Tuesday to guarantee their spot in the next round. If West Indies beat England, the Proteas need them to crush their opponents in order to lower England’s net run rate significantly.

Should they get through, the SA team need to play better, and while run rate might no longer be a big issue in the playoffs, they need to tighten things up in the field and show more intent with the bat.

With their bowlers playing as well as they are, they will again rely on the attack to pin back their opposition, but they will need to perform in all facets of the game if they want to lift the World Cup trophy.