All eyes will be glued to the screens today, when the Proteas Women take to the crease one last time at the ICC Cricket Women’s World Cup to battle it out for the ultimate prize in the grand finale at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai today.
The first ball is set to be bowled at 11am.
The Proteas may have started their World Cup campaign on the wrong foot with an embarrassing defeat to England in the opening game, but have since been a menace and blown away their opponents, including India, when they edged them by three wickets three games into the competition.
That heavy loss to England was, without a doubt, a wake-up call for coach Mandla Mashimbyi’s side, as the players stepped up and delivered impressive performances.
In almost every game, there was always a player or two who produced some individual brilliance and carried the team, players like Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk, and veteran Tazmin Brits, to name but a few.
However, when it mattered the most, captain Laura Wolvaardt stepped up once again and led by example alongside seasoned all-rounder Marizanne Kapp when they delivered an unforgettable performance against the same England that beat them and sailed to the final.
This was the epitome of revenge and déjà vu.
“I feel like coach Mandla made us feel relaxed because we had a totally different meeting with him, just the way he’s been going about his business,” Kapp said after the game against England, as she praised Mashimbyi for his hard work behind the scenes.
“Everything was different from that moment on, so initially it was a bit frantic in the nets [in training] until we had that meeting with the coach.
“And I feel like when we arrived [at the stadium for the game], everyone looked so relaxed, so it was a completely different camp.”
Coach Mashimbyi is expected to have an arousing and reframing final pep talk with his team, as they will be up against the entire Southern part of Asia.
India was up against Australia in the semis and did the unimaginable when they completed a record chase of 339 runs to dump the defending champions out of the competition in spectacular fashion.
Jemimah Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur fed off their home crowd remarkably and fired India into the final, in a game which will go down in the
history books.
South Africa was in the same position they were not so long ago, when they were so close yet so far from clinching their maiden T20 major trophy, but a lapse of concentration saw them lose the final to New Zealand last year.
Building up to the showpiece, star spinner Mlaba manifested a successful and improved showing from the Proteas at the world stage, especially at the back of the World Test Championship triumph by the men’s team.
“What the guys did at Lord’s was incredible, and we are now even more motivated to push even harder because we, as the women’s team, also want to make the country proud.
“We don’t want to be remembered as second best all the time; we also want to be number one.
With other national teams like the Springboks, Banyana Banyana, SA Hockey, Proteas Men, Amajita, and Bafana Bafana already bringing pride to the nation, the Proteas Women are poised to do the same, regardless of the final outcome.
