Unbeaten Proteas Women haven’t fully fired yet

Proteas Women’s coach Hilton Moreeng believes the best is yet to come from his team.

South Africa have won their first three matches at the World Cup in New Zealand.

On Monday, an all-round display from Marizanne Kapp (5-45 and 32) and a half-century from Laura Wolvaardt (77 off 101 balls) secured a three-wicket victory over defending champions England.

The Proteas’ fourth match will take place against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Thursday (3am SA time, SuperSport Grandstand channel).

“Holistically, we haven’t actually played the kind of cricket that we have been playing over the last year and a half,” said Moreeng.

“In the first three games, we had batters and bowlers in different situations that had to win us the game, so it shows that collectively, in all three departments, we haven’t fired as we would like to, especially by our standards.

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

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

New Zealand hold an imposing record over South Africa in ODI cricket, having won 11 of the previous 16 encounters, but three of the Proteas’ five wins came in a 3-0 whitewash in an away series in 2020.

“They are an all-round team,” Moreeng said of the Kiwis. “They had a very successful series against India building up to the World Cup, and they are not a team you can say have a lot of weaknesses. They’ve got a wealth of experience in their change room, players who have done it all.

“It is going to be very challenging,” he added. “We understand what’s coming, and need to make sure that we stay calm as a unit and execute what we need to on the day.”