South Africa head coach Mandla Mashimbyi says his team will learn important lessons from their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 semi-final defeat and come back stronger in future ICC tournaments.
The Proteas’ impressive campaign ended after a 40-run loss to hosts England at The Oval, London, on Thursday, July 2. South Africa had hoped to reach a third straight ICC final after finishing runners-up in the last two global tournaments, but England were the better side and booked their place in Sunday’s final against Australia at Lord’s.
South Africa made an excellent start with the ball by taking three early wickets and putting England under pressure. However, the game changed when captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Heather Knight put together a brilliant century partnership. Their stand helped England recover, post a strong total and later complete a comfortable win.
Mashimbyi admitted the defeat was disappointing but believes the experience will help his team improve. “You just lose and you learn,” Mashimbyi said after the semi-final defeat to England. “And we’ve learned a lot in this World Cup, and we’re going to make sure that we go back to the drawing board and make sure that we put things in place that’s going to make us even more dangerous, even better as a team.
“We know where our gaps are, and that’s the only thing we can do really. We can’t change the results. It’s about the work that we put in going forward and make sure that when we get an opportunity to play the World Cup again or the ICC Trophy tournament, we are sitting at the same table as other teams.”
Even though South Africa could not reach the final, there were many positives from their World Cup campaign. The team played some very good cricket during the tournament and reached the semi-finals after finishing second in Group 1 behind Australia.
Opener Tazmin Brits was South Africa’s best batter, scoring 225 runs during the tournament with several important innings. Experienced all-rounder Marizanne Kapp once again led the bowling attack, while fast bowler Shabnim Ismail made a successful return to international cricket after coming out of retirement before the World Cup. Both Kapp and Ismail finished with eight wickets from six matches and played a major role in helping South Africa reach the knockout stage.
Mashimbyi believes Ismail still has plenty to offer at international level and expects her to continue playing for the Proteas. “I think she’s still in for the long haul,” Mashimbyi said. “She’s going to have to make a decision. But as we stand, she’s still a Proteas player.”
The South Africa coach also dismissed suggestions that his team depends too much on Kapp and Ismail with the new ball. However, he admitted the bowling attack needs better balance, especially to give more support to frontline spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.
“I think we had too much of the same type of bowlers and teams could work out what we’re trying to do,” he said. “Shabnim and Kapp can put any team under pressure with a new ball, and that’s what we’ve been doing.
“And now obviously the biggest thing is to go back and go back to the drawing board and make sure that we put processes in place to make sure that we’ve got players that are coming through that are going to do, if not similar, or better.”
South Africa will now look ahead to the future with confidence. Mashimbyi believes his team has shown enough quality to compete with the best sides in the world, and he is confident the lessons from this tournament will help the Proteas become an even stronger team when they return to compete for the next ICC trophy.
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