After a terrific start with the ball, the Proteas Women were found wanting with the bat against the Australian Women in their final warm-up match ahead of the start of the Women’s World Twenty20 in the West Indies.
The Proteas Women had the Australian Women on the canvas before a late Aussie batting charge (followed by another failure with the bat by the Proteas) saw them lose their final warm-up match by 51 runs.
Part of the Durban Heat’s build-up to the inaugural Mzansi Super League is focused around a number of exciting school interactions throughout the greater Durban area ahead of their tournament opener on 18 November at Kingsmead.
An imperious, undefeated 111 by Indian skipper Rohit Sharma set the platform for an easy win for India in the second T20I against the West Indies at Lucknow.
‘I was a part of all the previous ICC Women’s World T20s right from the first one in 2009, when I was leading the India side. Those were tournaments held alongside the men; yes, people were watching, and there was good publicity for the women’s games, but what I found was that by having it simultaneously with the men, the women would be in the shadows.’
The Mzansi Super League trophy was officially unveiled on Tuesday. The gold-plated cup has a uniquely designed flower-pattern that signifies the spring of a new dawn with the first edition of the much-anticipated tournament set to start in 10 days’ time.
Proteas Women’s all-rounder Marizanne Kapp believes that her team has what it takes to win the ICC Women’s World T20 and that their slew of warm-up match losses is not an indication of the team’s potential in the competition.
‘We were either too defensive or too attacking. I can see the way Keemo [Paul] and [Fabian] Allen finished. If we had wickets in hand, we would’ve got 130-140, which would’ve probably been a winning score.’
Thabang Moroe talks about his excitement for the Mzansi Super League, as well as how he envies the team managers for the wealth of cricketing talent at their disposal.
Jozi Stars coach Enoch Nkwe is understandably eager to work alongside West Indian batsman Chris Gayle when the Mzansi Super League starts in South Africa later this month.
The Proteas Women’s batting woes continued when they were restricted to 72-9 and suffered a 90-run defeat in their first official ICC Women’s World T20 warm-up match against Pakistan at Coolidge Cricket Stadium in Antigua on Saturday.
They say there is no substitute for experience, and James Moses of Botswana proved that old adage very true on the final day of the ICC World Twenty20 Africa C Qualifier tournament in Gaborone.
