Three days after a challenging but watershed victory over reigning one-day international (ODI) champions England at the ongoing World Cup, the Proteas women return to the field on Thursday for another important clash – this time against hosts New Zealand.

In spite of not playing their best cricket so far at the 50-over showpiece – a fact acknowledged by the players themselves – the South Africans are one of only two teams to still hold a perfect record. They share the accolade with heavy favourites for the world title, Australia.

Hilton Moreeng’s team has won three from three so far, beating Bangladesh, Pakistan and, most recently, England. All those games have been close-run affairs, with individual brilliance, particularly from the Proteas’ deadly fast-bowling attack, pulling the team over the line.

The Proteas’ head coach believes that despite not performing as well as they have in the past year or so – during which they won ODI series over New Zealand, Pakistan, India and West Indies – securing a full complement of points remains the main priority in World Cup cricket.

“Holistically, we haven’t actually played the kind of cricket that we have been playing over the last year and a half. If you look from the first game to the third game, we had batters and bowlers in different situations that had to win us the game. So, it shows that, collectively, in all three departments (batting, bowling and fielding) we haven’t fired as we would like to, especially by our standards,” Moreeng said in a virtual pre-game press conference on Wednesday.

“We would love to eventually get to a situation where all three departments are firing. In a World Cup it is very tough and you don’t always get the ideal game, but we are working towards that,” he added.

“The bottom line is that when you are in a World Cup, make sure that you get yourself the two points. That is critical. As ugly as it may be and as tough as it may be, they have to make sure they stick together and make sure we get the required results.”

Home favourites

Although New Zealand hold an imposing record over South Africa overall in ODI cricket, with the White Ferns winning 11 of their previous 16 encounters, Moreeng’s charges claimed three of those five wins in a 3-0 whitewash during a series away from home in 2020.

A loss to West Indies in the opening match of the tournament was a blow to the White Ferns’ ambitions on home soil, as was the 141-run trouncing at the hands of neighbours Australia.

However, wins over Bangladesh and India mean they are still firmly in contention for a semifinal spot. As such, they will want to avoid further losses in order to prevent qualification coming down to net run rate.

Assessing the White Ferns, Moreeng said: “They are an all-round team. They had a very successful series building up to the World Cup, against India, so it is not a team you can say they have a lot of weaknesses. They’ve got a wealth of experience in their changeroom, players who have done it all, and we know what they possess.”

“It’s a team that, on their day, plays well as a unit, and playing on their home turf; it is a must-win game for them as well. They need to make sure they keep the momentum of winning.”

With a run of fixtures against Australia, West Indies and India to follow the clash with New Zealand, the Proteas will be desperate to secure maximum points against the hosts. More importantly, after some nervous moments, they will be hoping to finally settle into a rhythm that will carry them to the knockout phase.

The match is on Thursday, 17 March at 3am South African time. DM

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