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The Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 still lacks a good fire starter, but it received one in the first nearly nail-biter, which raised more concerns about South Africa, the losing finalist from the previous edition, than it did about England, the side they defeated.
That speaks as much about the expectations placed on South Africa as it does about their success. In the 25 T20Is they have played against England, they have lost 20 of them. But since becoming a professional squad in 2014, South Africa has advanced significantly, and they are now expected to challenge England, Australia, and India. Their failure will be closely examined, particularly in light of the fact that they are still vying for a semi-final position.
The first query will be the batting, as South Africa did not perform well enough in Sharjah, even though they did post the highest first-inning score in five games. At the post-match press conference, Laura Wolvaardt stated that their 124 seemed to be “10 to 20 runs short,” particularly considering how well they had started with 31 runs from the first five overs. As Tazmin Brits attempted to move past Linsey Smith in an attempt to create a boundary opportunity, she was removed off the pitch on the opening ball of the sixth over. Then South Africa stopped. After the powerplay, Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch played seven boundary-less overs, which begs questions about South Africa’s strategy.
The obvious one is why they elected to send in Bosch ahead of Marizanne Kapp, the player they had utilised as No. 3 for most of the build-up to the tournament. According to Wolvaardt, the decision was made by management.
“She’s traditionally batted three for us in the past but Annneke was striking it really well leading up to this and Marizanne obviously has quite a hectic workload as a seam-bowling all-rounder,” Wolvaardt said. “I think that’s something that our batting coach Baakier Abrahams here has been thinking about it for many hours in his room and I’m sure he has a reason behind the line-up as it is.” But Wolvaardt said she would, “definitely open to any changes.”
It’s just a return to their pre-tournament intentions, when Kapp herself seemed to welcome the idea of batting higher in the order, if the coaching staff feels the same way. If they don’t, that could fit with some odd tournament patterns where other batters have also been seen to come in out of position, ostensibly due to workload issues.
The other reason South Africa failed to score was the potency of England’s spinners, who had the advantage of experience in Sharjah, on a sluggish ground. Sophie Ecclestone proved to be a formidable opponent, as her stump-to-stump line yielded ten dot balls and boasted the highest economy rate of the game at 3.75. In contrast, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Tryon, the two left-arm spinners from South Africa, let up 47 runs in seven overs between them, with the latter giving up 25 in three overs.
That presents something of a dilemma for South Africa, since three days ago they appeared to have everything they needed to defeat the West Indies, but now they appear to be lacking in Sharjah.
It’s challenging to choose the appropriate team lineup in Sharjah, particularly since South Africa didn’t even get to see the stadium before the match. Even though they watched events on television, they entered this game with no prior knowledge because training sessions are held at the ICC Academy in Dubai. They might conclude, looking back, that they did not quite do it right, and they might use this match to think about how to tackle things if they ever find themselves in this situation again.
After their last group match in Sharjah, South Africa will play a day match against Scotland and a night match against Bangladesh in Dubai. However, they might have to play in a semi-final in Sharjah, and if they do, they’ll want to prove that they’ve learnt their lesson.