They have already booked their place in the semifinals, and they are up against a struggling Pakistan team, but experienced seam bowler Masabata Klaas says the Proteas are hungry for another win in their penultimate league stage match at the Women’s Cricket World Cup in Colombo on Tuesday (11.30am start).
While South Africa are in third place in the standings with eight points, Pakistan are bottom of the table with just two points from rained-out matches.
The SA team still have a lot to play for in the opening round, however, with the top side facing the fourth-placed squad in the semifinals, and Klaas said they would avoid any complacency on Tuesday.
“Pakistan are a strong team. We can’t just go out there and think we’re just going for a walk in the park,” Klaas said yesterday.
“One thing that will work for us is to stick to the basics and do what we’ve been doing from day one of this World Cup.
“We’re not going to take them for granted because every game is important for us.”
Batters standing up
After being thumped by England in their opening match of the World Cup, the Proteas went on to win their last four games on the trot.
However, in tightly contested games against India and Bangladesh, they had to rely on stellar performances from middle-order batters to carry them over the line.
But in their last game, against Sri Lanka last week, opening batters Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits both went unbeaten in a fixture that was reduced to 20 overs a side due to rain.
Klaas said she was excited to see what the national team could achieve if their top-order and middle-order batters all stood up.
“We’ve been doing it in the middle overs and now our openers are coming into play,” she said.
“So imagine if everyone can come into play, how dangerous we’re going to be as a team.”
With the Proteas having shown real big-match temperament in some of their games, Klaas said they were confident of earning a fifth straight victory and climbing to the top of the first-round table.
“We are ready and we’re just going to keep doing what has been working for us,” she said.
“We’re going in with a positive mindset of winning this game.”
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