Van Niekerk cites Windies example; looks forward to better South Africa show

South Africa might have lost the five-match T20 series against New Zealand recently, but captain Dane van Niekerk is still not losing hope about their chances in the upcoming T20 World Cup citing the example of West Indies’ triumph in 2016. Although the Proteas won the ODI series, they crumbled in front of Sophie Devine’s explosive batting losing the series 1-3 in the T20Is. The fifth and final game was washed out in Dunedin.   

For the record, in 2016, the Windies had lost the three-match T20I series 1-2 to South Africa but then regrouped to win their maiden T20 World Cup title beating Australia in the final at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. “Bit disappointing, coming into the World Cup, to go down 3-1. We said after the game that West Indies had lost against us in 2016 but went onto win the World Cup,” said van Niekerk taking a cue of Windies journey four years back. “So you know it’s all doom and gloom and we look forward to playing the best cricket in every single game.”

Not only van Niekerk, but her teammate Shabnim Ismail also echoed the same stating the mood is still high among the girls despite the loss. “Obviously we lost in the T20Is (against NZ) but our confidence is still up. We still have the momentum with us,” Ismail said. “We took a lot more positives from the ODIs than the T20Is. Having said that still a lot of good things came out of the T20Is,” added van Niekerk. 

A lot of South African players have been a part of Women's Big Bash League in the 2019-20 edition and van Niekerk stressed on the fact that the collective experience of those players will help them in understanding the conditions there.  

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“There are a lot of girls in the team that’s been playing the Big Bash League (sic). We know the conditions really well and know what to expect. We know it’s going to be a lot flatter (wicket), got a really good pace attack and hopefully, they can fire no matter what the wicket does,” added the skipper. “Women’s cricket has gone from strength to strength every year. I think this one is probably close to one of the best T20 World Cups personally would be part of.”

Meanwhile 24-year-old leggie Sune Luus has termed the shortest format of the game funny but warned against taking any team lightly. “All the teams are pretty good. You can’t underestimate any team and T20 is a very funny game. With the players we have here I think it’s out best chance and showcase what we are made of,” said Luus.