Mandla Mashimbyi accepts that the time for learning about the Proteas women’s team has ended.
“I’ve had the opportunity to just observe — how the team functions, where the skills are at, the limitations and what we are good at,” he said.
Combinations have been tried, new caps handed out, but the time for assessing and experimenting is now over. There is a World Cup in less than three months and, in that time, Mashimbyi needs to settle on the players he wants to take to that tournament, along with the tactics he wants them to employ.
“I’m really happy with what I’ve seen, now it’s about marrying the skill with the mindset,” added Mashimbyi, who’s been the national team’s head coach since November last year .
His optimism may appear misplaced when judged against resultsHe’s overseen a total of 14 matches across three formats, and won just five. But it is worth noting that, among his first official assignments was a Test match in Bloemfontein — the first South Africa had hosted in 22 years — a series against England and then a triangular series in Sri Lanka, featuring the host nation and India.
It was on that tour that Karabo Meso, Miane Smit and Seshnie Naidu made their international debuts. All of those were with an eye on the World Cup; Meso, still 17, has been hyped as the answer to South Africa’s batter/keeper conundrum. While Sinalo Jafta has earned rave reviews for her courage off the field, on it her batting is seen as a weakness.
Smit and Naidu offer spin options and, in the former’s case, an extra batting role, for conditions which will likely assist spin.
However, arguably the biggest strides this year have come from 24-year-old Annerie Dercksen. Her match-winning century in Colombo in May — rescuing the team from a tricky position at 85/5, and helping them reach 315/9 — was a critical moment in the all-rounder’s career. “She’s come a long way and she is beginning to understand how she needs to go about her business,” Mashimbyi said.
That performance also indicated that the Proteas needed not lean too heavily on Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp. Tasmin Britz is South Africa’s leading run-scorer in 2025, Dercksen, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon have all chipped in with timely performances, and with Wolvaardt and Kapp usually saving their best for the biggest stage, the individual components are certainly available.
The inconsistency of the batting remains a concern. The Proteas have started slowly in some innings, and then found it difficult to catch up — like against India in Colombo, when they fell 23 runs short while chasing 338 — and at others quick starts, like in the first match against West Indies last month, haven’t been matched by strong finishes.
“When you are trying to find things out, there are times you fix the top, then the wind comes through the bottom and when you fix the bottom, there’s an issue at the top... They are understanding more how to stay on top when we start well and, if we are in trouble, how we can find our way out of that. Hopefully, everything comes together at the World Cup.”
Mashimbyi is pleased with Kapp’s progress since she played in the West Indies after returning from a strength and conditioning programme. She will also have a stint in The Hundred in England before joining the squad in India for the World Cup.
In the next few weeks, there’ll be strategy camps and team building exercises, before they head to Pakistan to wrap up preparation ahead of the tournament.
South Africa, who’ve made it to the semifinals of the last two ODI World Cups, face England in Bengaluru on October 3 in their tournament opener.
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