South Africa will have to re-enact their goldfish routine ahead of Wednesday’s World Cup semifinal clash with England, after suffering another batting implosion in their final round-robin match against Australia on Saturday.
Like they did after their opening match — when they were bowled out for 69 by England — the Proteas need to quickly forget about yesterday’s batting display, where a historic spell from leg-spinner Alana King saw them dismissed for 97 in 24 overs.
“The girls showed character after that first game. They came back strong, and they’ve shown a hunger to win,” head coach Mandla Mashimbyi said of his side’s recovering after their opening game.
The Proteas went on a five-match unbeaten run afterwards, comfortably qualifying for the semifinals — where England, who have knocked them out of the previous two ODI World Cups at the same stage, awaits.
Both sides have suffered chastening defeats in the last week to the all-conquering Australians, whose seven-wicket victory yesterday stretched their unbeaten run in World Cup matches to 16.
New World Cup record
King was magnificent, finishing with 7/18, a new record for the World Cup, and bowling in a manner that would have made her idol — the late Shane Warne — proud.
Four of her seven wickets were bowled, and, at one stage, having dismissed Annerie Dercksen and Chloe Tryon off consecutive deliveries, she found herself on a hat-trick.
Her figures at that point were a barely believable 4/0, but off the 16th delivery of her spell, she conceded a boundary to Nadine de Klerk.
The mental scarring she inflicted on the Proteas may provide England with some food for thought. Their leg-spinner Sarah Glenn has played just one match in the tournament, but having seen the damage King caused may lead to a change of strategy.
The English have also had great success opening the bowling with left-arm slow bowler Linsey Smith, who started the World Cup by picking up 3/7 in that win against South Africa.
Mashimbyi wants to take the pressure off the semifinal, as much as he can, by focussing on routine and wanting the players to apply the fundamentals properly — and for as long as possible.
SUBHEAD: Holding on to momentum
“A semifinal is about the attitude you bring. And then keeping things simple, staying calm, and identifying moments where we are on top of the game, or when [the opposition] are on top of the game, looking for ways to bring it back if it’s away from us or holding onto that momentum when we have it,” he said.
The two losses in the league phase have suggested the Proteas need to find ways to hang on better when the opposition has the upper hand, and will be a point of discussion, especially for the batting group, in the next couple of days.
The bowlers have had issues too, especially in the first 10 overs, where South Africa have struggled to pick up wickets. Besides the Pakistan match, where they took four wickets in an innings reduced to 20 overs because of rain, South Africa have taken a total of five wickets in the first power play in their other six matches. “It’s not a concern,” said Mashimbyi.
“We are bowling well. If we keep doing the right things, then eventually it will pay off. If we’re not taking wickets, then the opposition must not be scoring runs — that’s our philosophy as a bowling unit.
“By not scoring runs, the opposition is still under pressure, and that brings the spinners into the game because opposing batters feel like they can take on the spinners, and that’s when we can get wickets as well.”
Nonkululeko Mlaba, who’s taken 11 wickets, and Chloe Tryon (5), will again be vital to South Afroca’s chances of success on Wednesday. “Maybe this is good for us in that it will wake us up a little bit,” Laura Wolvaardt said after yesterday’s defeat.
“We’ve grown used to a semifinal against [England] in 50-over World Cups; hopefully, we can come out on top this time.”
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