Photo Credit: Michael SheehanGall/ Cricket South Africa
On the back of a closely contested T20 International (T20I) series against Australia, Proteas Women head coach Hilton Moreeng shared his thoughts on the outbound tour against the reigning T20 and 50-over world champions.
Despite the 2-1 T20I series defeat, Moreeng exuded optimism and pride in the team’s performance ahead of the One-Day Internationals (ODI) taking place between 03 – 10 February in Adelaide and Sydney.
“For us, the way we started the T20I series, we feel a bit disappointed in our changing room because we felt we’ve done enough to have had the results otherwise, but it’s one of those that you know you’re playing against a quality team, on their own conditions, where they play very well. They have a lot of match winners in the team and so do we, so we felt that on the day, they were on the better side when it came to the key moments in the game,” the head coach commented.
“Overall, there’s been very good moments in the last three games. The players have gone out there, very competitive, put their best foot forward and stayed competitive. We can see the growth from the team – the way we’re playing – it’s a team that is just on the up. We take a lot of learnings from that going into the next series. We’re very happy with what we’ve seen regarding the performance but not the end result,” he added.
The coach highlighted the significance of beating Australia for the first time in the team’s history during the second T20I where the Proteas secured an emphatic five-wicket victory led by Laura Wolvaardt with 58* off 53 balls (6 fours). Moreeng described it as the realization of the team’s hard work and dedication.
“We’ve had a couple of close games in the past, where at times we dominated the game and then we lost the game in, like I said, key moments. We started to identify and work on a plan on how to get that right and at the end of the day when you get the result that you’ve been working hard to get, against the best side in the world, now you realise it’s about how we put it all together and make sure we can be consistent.
“It’s been a great challenge for us as a team and to be able to achieve that, to level the series and come close again in the last game, shows you that this is the level that we’re at as a team. We understand where we are and there’s still a couple of things we’re working to improve but we’re very happy with what we’re seeing going forward,” Moreeng said.
Assessing the batting performances, Moreeng commended the team’s commitment to the proposed strategy. While identifying areas for improvement in the powerplays, he emphasized the attractiveness of the team’s playing style. With a focus on maintaining the brand of cricket, Moreeng underlined the importance of guiding younger players to understand the team’s requirements.
Discussing the bowling unit, the head coach stressed the importance of consistency. Despite up-and-down performances, he praised the competitiveness and the balance of the bowling lineup. Adapting to conditions quickly was identified as a key aspect, with the coach expressing confidence in the unit’s ability to relay their experience to younger players.
As the Proteas Women transition to the ODI format, Coach Moreeng remains confident in the team’s abilities and their commitment to achieving their goals.
“We just want to keep improving as a team. We’ve set ourselves a blueprint that we want to achieve and the consistency has been very good. Overall, the cricket that has been played over the last two years in this format has shown a good upward curve and we want to keep consistently improving on that. Everybody’s looking forward to the challenge and they can’t wait to get onto the park,” the head coach concluded.
Proteas Women Squad (T20I & ODI) – Multi-format Tour to Australia
Laura Wolvaardt (Fidelity Titans, Captain), Anneke Bosch (Fidelity Titans), Tazmin Brits (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Nadine de Klerk (Western Province), Mieke de Ridder (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Ayanda Hlubi (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Sinalo Jafta (DP World Lions), Marizanne Kapp (Western Province), Ayabonga Khaka (DP World Lions), Masabata Klaas (Fidelity Titans), Suné Luus (Fidelity Titans), Eliz-Mari Marx (Fidelity Titans), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Chloé Tryon (DP World Lions), Delmi Tucker (Western Province)
Results:
T20 Warm-Up
Governor-General XI beat South Africa by 4 wickets
South Africa: 149/7 after 20 overs; N. de Klerk 48* (24), C. Tryon 39 (29); C. Sippel 2/20, C. Ainsworth 2/31
Governor-General XI: 150/6 after 19.2 overs; S. Molineux 59 (41), T. Flintoff 42 (27); M. Klaas 3/16, A. Khaka 2/29
T20I Series vs Australia
1st T20I
Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets
South Africa: 147/6 after 20 overs; T. Brits 59* (54), S. Luus 19 (17); E. Perry 2/13, D. Brown 2/20
Australia: 149/2 after 19.1 overs; B. Mooney 72* (57), A. Healy 46 (28); M. Kapp 1/25, N. de Klerk 1/25
2nd T20I
South Africa beat Australia by 6 wickets
Australia: 142/6 after 20 overs; G. Harris 31* (18), A. Healy 29 (24); M. Klaas 2/16, N. Mlaba 1/18
South Africa: 144/6 after 19 overs; L. Wolvaardt 58* (53), T. Brits 41 (28); A. Gardner 2/26, T. McGrath 1/16
3rd T20I
Australia beat South Africa by 5 wickets
South Africa: 162/7 after 20 overs; M. Kapp 75 (48), C. Tryon 26 (16); T. McGrath 1/17, G. Wareham 1/25
Australia: 163/5 after 19.2 overs; B. Mooney 82 (55), A. Gardener 26 (17); M. Klaas 1/13, C. Tryon 1/23
Fixtures – Proteas Women Multi-format Tour to Australia
ODI Series vs Australia:
Saturday, 03 February @ 14h10 – 1st ODI – Australia vs South Africa (Adelaide Oval, Adelaide)
Wednesday, 07 February @ 14h40 – 2nd ODI – Australia vs South Africa (North Sydney Oval, Sydney)
Saturday, 10 February – @14h40 3rd ODI – Australia vs South Africa (North Sydney Oval, Sydney)
Test Match vs Australia:
15 – 18 February @ 11h00 – Only Test – Australia vs South Africa (WACA Ground, Perth)
All match times are local times in Australia
