Staying calm is key, says Jafta, as Proteas prepare for crunch World Cup clash

A victory today might not be enough for the Proteas to progress to the semifinals of the T20 Women’s World Cup, but wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta says the national squad are trying to stay calm and focus on the things within their control (rather than trying to demolish their opponents) as they prepare to face Bangladesh in their last group match of the tournament in Dubai.

Even if they win, South Africa will have to hope England beat West Indies in the last match of the group on Tuesday, otherwise the playoff places are likely to be decided by net run rate.

For this reason, to give themselves their best chance of progressing, the Proteas need to defeat Bangladesh by a significant margin to play it safe.

The conversations in the team camp, however, have revolved around sticking to the basics and not putting too much pressure on themselves.

“As a team we know what’s at stake. We would love to have those two points at the end of the game, and then look forward from there,” said Jafta, who will play her 50th T20 International today.

“I think the focus is on our game and how we want to play throughout this tournament, just playing positive cricket and being really aggressive in our approach.

“We have to stay calm because when you overthink it a lot of mistakes can happen out there. So for us it’s about making sure we get over the line, and the rest will take care of itself.”

Raising spirits back home

The Proteas have played well in the group stages thus far, coasting to convincing victories over West Indies and Scotland, though they were edged in a narrow defeat to England earlier this week.

With their sights set on next week’s playoffs, as they target South Africa’s first senior cricket World Cup title, Jafta said they were eager to put in another strong performance and raise spirits back home by taking another step towards the semifinals.

The likes of the Springbok rugby team, the nation’s Olympic medallists and mixed martial arts fighter Dricus du Plessis have done well to give South Africans multiple reasons to celebrate over the last couple of years.

Jafta said they hoped to give sports fans and the general public more reason to cheer, with the Proteas women just three matches away from lifting the World Cup trophy.

“There’s no DNA, just RSA. That’s something we pride ourselves on, and ‘hulle weet nie wat one weet nie’. We know what those two phrases mean,” Jafta said.

“We see the value we add to the country when there’s something to celebrate, so it’s really exciting.”

Today’s Group B match between South Africa and Bangladesh in Dubai will start at 4pm (SA time).