‘The best is yet to come’: Proteas gear up for T20 World Cup play-offs

CRICKET NEWS - Having reached the play-offs, the Proteas are confident that their best cricket still lies ahead of them at the Women’s T20 World Cup, according to veteran all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.

The SA team finished second in their group last week with four wins from five matches, and they were gearing up to face unbeaten hosts England in a semifinal clash in London on Thursday (19:30 start).

While some players had stood up and delivered in the opening round, Kapp felt they were only “at 60%” in the group stages, but she was confident individuals including captain Laura Wolvaardt would come to the party in the chase for the maiden World Cup title.

“I know this team and if players like Wolvie (Wolvaardt) haven’t hit their straps yet, we have a lot of players that are due, and that for me is exciting because the best is yet to come,” Kapp said.

“We are not close to playing our best cricket and hopefully we’ve been saving it for this semifinal.”

Digging deep for play-off spot

After losing to title favourites Australia in their first match of the tournament, the Proteas had won four games on the trot, though they had to dig deep in fixtures against India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to keep their trophy hopes alive.

And though they had been given a shake in the early stages – as was the case at last year’s 50-over World Cup where they lost to England in their opener and still reached the final – Kapp felt this boded well for the SA team who knew they had more in the tank entering the knockout rounds.

“If everything goes your way and you just smash everyone, I’m more afraid of that than reaching the semifinals the way we’ve played,” she said.

“We know we’ve not been at our best, and we can openly say that, but the hard work didn’t stop – we’ve still been working hard – and we can just keep doing the right things and hopefully a good performance is just around the corner.”

If the Proteas women win Thursday night’s game at The Oval, they will turn out against Australia in the final at Lord’s on Sunday, after Australia beat West Indies by eight wickets in the first semifinal of the tournament on Tuesday.

Two-Time Player of the Match. Marizanne Kapp claimed her second Player of the Match award of the tournament after another composed all-round performance in Sunday’s victory.