The South African Women’s team led by skipper Laura Wolvaardt had a decent outing in their recently concluded white-ball series at home against Sri Lanka. The home side ended up on the losing side (2-1) in the T20I series and managed to draw the three-match ODI series (1-1) after the first game of the series being washed out.
The Proteas women were on an experimental spree trying out their bench strength, giving opportunities to the likes of 16-year-old wicket-keeper batter Karabo Meso, Eliz-mari Marx, Tumi Sekhukhune, etc to display their set of skills. The upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, which is set to be hosted by Bangladesh, is just a few months away. “They’re a world-class side and we’re going to have to be at our best to beat them. We are trying to get everyone settled into their roles before the Women’s T20 World Cup is pretty important as well.” The South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt speaks about giving specific roles and having a settled playing combination before the upcoming T20 World Cup.
In their next assignment, the Laura Wolvaard-led side is all set to visit India for an all-format series that includes a three-match ODI series followed by a one-off Test match and then a three-match T20I series. The ODI series will be played at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. The One-off Test match and the three-match T20I series will be played at the MA. Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, in Chennai. The series will commence on 16th June 2024 and will conclude on 9th July 2024.
The upcoming three-match T20I series could be an ideal preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup. As far as the ODI series is concerned, there are ICC Women’s Championship points up for grabs for South Africa. They are currently placed third in the points table with 23 points to their name from 18 games so far. “We’re focusing on a lot at the moment. Obviously, with the ODIs having points up for grabs, the T20Is being in preparation for the World Cup and then the Test match (in Chennai) being pretty special too. We’ve tried to sort of cover everything and there isn’t one that’s massively more important than the other. We’d like to do well in all formats. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt speaks about covering all the bases with a vision to do well in all three formats.
The top five teams including the hosts, India will earn a direct qualification for the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, set to be hosted by India, next year in 2025.
(Quotes sourced from PTI)