Proteas women saving their best for World Cup final, warns Bosch

Top-order batter Anneke Bosch has warned the Proteas’ opposition that they are confident of performing even better in the final than they did in their stunning victory over Australia in their semifinal on Thursday at the T20 Women’s World Cup.

Bosch ran Rampant in their last-four match in Dubai, hitting a career-best 74 not out off 48 balls, guiding the SA team to an eight-wicket win with 16 balls to spare and preventing Australia from lifting their fourth successive title.

The Proteas booked their place in the final at the second straight edition of the tournament, setting up a trophy battle against either New Zealand or West Indies in Dubai on Sunday (4pm SA time).

“I’m incredibly proud of everyone in the team and just the way we approached this whole World Cup and how we’ve played throughout the tournament,” Bosch said after their semifinal.

“We said we hadn’t played our best game yet, and we probably still haven’t, but hopefully we’re leaving it for the final now.

“But we’re really happy, and we had this belief that we can do it, and I’m really glad we could get over the line today.”

Bosch finds form

Having scored a combined 54 runs in her previous three innings at the tournament, in the group stages, Bosch was relieved to find her form in the playoff clash.

“It hadn’t been the best tournament for me but I think the mindset today was a bit different than it normally is,” she said.

“If you come off a few bad games, you kind of know that it can’t get any worse, so you just go at it, stay positive and try score as quickly as you can to put the team in a good position.

“Sometimes it comes off and sometimes it doesn’t, but I think for me it’s more about being in the right mindset when I go out to bat.”

New Zealand will face West Indies in the second semifinal of the T20 Women’s World Cup in Sharjah on Friday (4pm).