SWOT Analysis of South Africa Squad selected for ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 is set to get underway on February 10th and will continue until February 26th 2023. It will be hosted by South Africa and will have 23 matches in total, with the finals at the Newlands Cricket in Cape Town, South Africa.

The World Cup will feature 10 teams spread across two groups.

How is South Africa placed for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup?

South Africa is placed in Group A along with the likes of Australia, Bangladesh, New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and they will square off against them in the group stage matches.

What are South Africa’s fixtures?

How did South Africa fare in the last T20 World Cup 2020?

South Africa had a heartbreak in the ICC T20 World Cup 2020, where they were agonizingly short of making it to the finals, and this World Cup at home provides them with the perfect opportunity to make the most of it.

What is South Africa’s Squad for Women’s T20 World Cup 2023?

Sune Luus (c), Annerie Dercksen, Marizanne Kapp, Lara Goodall, Ayabonga Khaka, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Shabnim Ismail, Tazmin Brits, Masabata Klaas, Laura Wolvaardt, Sinalo Jafta, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Anneke Bosch, Delmi Tucker.

Non-traveling reserves: Micaéla Andrews, Tebogo Macheke, Tumi Sekhukhune

SWOT Analysis South Africa’s Squad for Women’s T20 World Cup 2023

Strengths of the South African squad selected for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023:

• Sune Luus’ captaincy: In the absence of Dane van Niekerk, someone who has really impressed with her captaincy is Sune Luus. Her astute observations and guiding the team when they most needed her to is what makes her special and an absolute asset to the team.

• Experience of the trio: With the trio of Laura Wolvaardt, Shabnim Ismail, and Marizanne Kapp, South Africa has no dearth of experienced players. They have been with the team through all the major tournaments and all the bilateral tournaments, besides plying their trade in all major franchise leagues, which makes them the players to watch out for South Africa.

• Confidence from winning the tri-series: One of the massive boosts for South Africa coming in this World Cup will be the morale-winning win against India in the tri-series and how they were able to try different strategies and approaches that worked well for them.

Weaknesses of the South African squad selected for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023:

• The absence of Dane van Niekerk: The exclusion of Dane van Niekerk, the regular and full-time skipper of South Africa on the basis of not being able to meet fitness standards has sent shockwaves across the cricketing fraternity. Her skill set and talent are certainly not unknown, but injuries have meant that she was sidelined for the better part of 2021 and 2022. Although she lost a lot of weight besides putting in the hard yards in her rehabilitation, missing out by 18 seconds in her fitness test meant she could not feature in the squad. Her presence would have added a lot of value to the set-up, and her all-round prowess makes her one of a kind.

• Inexperienced bowling attack: One of the biggest challenges for South Africa is how inexperienced their bowling attack is. Besides the duo of Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail, the Proteas team will need the likes of Ayabonga Khaka, Delmi Tucker, Masabata Klaas, Sinalo Jafta and Nonkululeko Mlaba to step up and take responsibility.

• Fragile middle-order: Overall, besides Laura Wolvaardt and Chloe Tryon, most of the South African batting is untested and inexperienced, not inspiring a lot of confidence. They should look to use a different approach when it comes to batting and get Wolvaardt later on in the order as with Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp and Chloe Tryon; the batting looks formidable, and with Delmi Tucker and Nadine de Klerk further adding some solidity to the batting.

Opportunities for the South African squad selected for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023:

• Home conditions: One of the biggest advantages for South Africa in this World Cup will be how the World Cup is happening at home, and they will look to make the most of it. Being familiar with the conditions and adapting to them seamlessly will not be a challenge for them.

• Opportunity for Chloe Tryon and Nadine de Klerk: Earmarked as the next big things in South African cricket, this World Cup is certainly going to be a game changer for the duo who can capitalise on the home conditions and impress everyone with their gameplay and carve a niche for themselves.

• To win the World Cup: An ICC trophy is something that has eluded the South African team for so long now, and they would want to shed all their inhibitions, play a brand of cricket they will be proud of, and finally lay hands on the World Cup. This World Cup, they would not want to leave any stone unturned and go all the way.

Threats for the South African squad selected for the Women’s T20 World Cup 2023:

• Pressures of a home World Cup: As much as playing a World Cup at home sounds fancy and comforting, the pressures and expectations will weigh heavily. This could prove to be counterproductive and detrimental to South Africa. They will certainly look to take each match as it comes and not think too ahead and complicate matters for themselves.

• Threat from Australia and New Zealand: One of the major threats for South Africa in this World Cup is the presence of the dangerous duo of Australia and New Zealand, who will prove to be thorns in the group stage matches and threats who are difficult to overcome and with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh also capable of pulling upsets, South Africa will have to be wary of the potential threats that could derail their campaign.

Neha Shetty

I am a first year postgraduate student pursuing a MA in Media and Communication Studies at Christ University, Bengaluru. I am a podcaster, blogger and an avid cricket fan. When not glued to cricket matches, you can find me submerged in books and thinking about cricket all the time.