The Proteas Women enter the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on a high after beating Pakistan by six wickets in their final warm-up match at Boland Park in Paarl on Wednesday.
It has been a strong build-up to the overall competition for the hosts, with them winning the Tri Series competition in East London last week, after defeating India in the final, and although they lost the first warm-up game against England earlier this week. week they put on a fighting performance.
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They will now look to build on the momentum they have built in the exhibition events where they will be hoping to impress at home.
“I think we have had a good preparation. Coming from (winning in) East London and then in the two warm-up games most of our batters made runs and our bowlers have bowled well out. So I think we have prepared perfectly and now we just want to away on Friday,” Proteas opener Laura Wolvaardt said.
Wolvaardt was in his best batting form in the last warm-up for the Proteas and he will also take a lot of confidence from the game.
In the match, Pakistan batted first and scored 142/5 in 20 overs, mainly thanks to Aliya Riaz’s unbeaten 48 off 30 balls (7×4; 1×6), while she was well supported by Ayesha Naseem (21). from 12).
Ayabonga Khaka, 2/23, was the pick of the Proteas bowlers, while Nonkululeko Mlaba, 1/16, bowled an impressive four overs.
The Proteas chase was then organized by 107-run open stands in 12.4 overs between Wolvaardt, 65 from 42 balls (5×4; 3×6) and Tazmin Britz, 36 from 37 (6×4), which allowed him. to cruise home easily in the end.
good experience
For Wolvaardt, it was a good experience as he has tried to be more aggressive at the top of the order and he is happy with his efforts.
“I think this game is a perfect preparation. We will play one of the group games here. So it will be good to get a feel for the situation and see how the field plays against good opposition,” said Wolvaardt.
“It’s also a good pursuit for us, which is always good for training. So it’s a good preparation for us.
“We are trying to capitalize more on the powerplay and with the way it is going in T20 cricket I have to try and play some more shots. So it’s just about playing with a positive mindset and hopefully we can do the same in the World Cup.
The Proteas open the World Cup with their first pool match against Sri Lanka at Newlands in Cape Town on Friday night (7pm kick-off).