Photo Credit: ICC
Cricket South Africa (CSA) congratulates Proteas Women on their outstanding display at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup that concluded on Sunday.
Under the guidance of Head Coach Hilton Moreeng, South Africa made history and achieved something that no other senior representative team managed to do – reach the final of a global ICC event.
The Proteas began the tournament with an upset loss to Sri Lanka, before they bounced back to beat New Zealand, Bangladesh and England, who they ousted in the semi-finals.
It was an incredible run, made more special by the tournament being hosted by South Africa for the first time. A capacity crowd of 12,782 turned out to watch the final between eventual champions Australia and the home side at Newlands in Cape Town on Sunday.
“We are immensely proud of what our women cricketers managed to achieve at the World Cup,” Chairperson of the CSA Board, Lawson Naidoo, stated. “They broke new ground by becoming the first South Africa team, amongst men and women, to get to the deciding match.
“The Proteas showed exceptional fight and courage. They played some outstanding cricket all round, winning over many new hearts and fans along the way. Unfortunately, Suné Luus and her team came up against an Australia team that is on top of its game and have now won a third successful World Cup.
“On behalf of the CSA Board, I congratulate the Proteas Women’s for a stellar performance that showed their grit, endurance, and determination. We are today filled with immense pride that they made it to the final with confidence. This bodes well for the fortunes of the team in its next exploits.”
CSA Chief Executive Officer, Pholetsi Moseki, added: “What the Proteas Women have accomplished over the course of the last two weeks will be embedded in our hearts forever. To get to a final of a World Cup is very special, but to do it in front of your own fans is even more special.
“Their effort is the fruit of the foundations that have been laid by Coach Hilton Moreeng over the past decade when we saw so many of these women cricketers come through the system. They reached so many semi-finals previously and took that one step further this time only to fall so short against one of the greatest teams of any cricketing era, Australia.
“But we should not despair, because the work being done in the women’s game is clear for everyone to see. Furthermore, watching the way the country rallied behind the team over the past fortnight tells us how far cricket has come.
“It speaks to the immense talent we have in this country and there is no doubt this will inspire many more young girls to take up the game. This is what we want to see, cricket growing and the Proteas challenging the best consistently all the time.
“So once more, a special congratulations to the Coach, his staff, the captain and every single member of the team management for warming our hearts. You are our heroines.”
