The Proteas Women will be returning to action for the first time since their ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final upset in India recently, but are now already setting their sights on the forthcoming T20 World Cup next year, using the ongoing
series against Ireland.
South Africa enters the second T20 match against Ireland today at Boland Park in Paarl trailing or in the driving seat [paragraph will be updated after Friday’s result] heading into the decider on Wednesday.
The 2026 Women’s T20 World Cup will be held between two countries, England and Wales, from June 12-July 5, and the Proteas will be desperate to win their first-ever major title, having come close not once or twice, but three times in recent years.
“It’s crazy that it’s so soon [until the T20 World Cup]. It feels like we’ve just come off a World Cup, and there’s another one in like a few months,” said captain Laura Wolvaardt.
“But I think we’ve been playing some good cricket. Obviously, that final hurdle is still in front of us, [losing] three in a row.
“But I think we’re doing a lot of things right to keep making those finals.
“So, the most important thing for us is to continue playing a good game so that we reach that stage again.
“Overall, I think the group’s been making some really good strides, and hopefully we can get ourselves in another final.”
Ahead of the series against Ireland, Proteas coach expressed his delight to have his charges back in full swing and stressed the importance of having a positive impact in the T20.
“It was really nice to just come back and meet the group again after the World Cup.
“It was nice to see that everybody is in high spirits, but you know we’re not going to take this series lightly.
“The one thing that I can tell you now is that we’re not going to take Ireland lightly,” Mashimbyi said.
“We see every game and every season as an opportunity for us to elevate our game and play to win. If we come with that attitude, we will have a good series.
“In terms of how we want to play cricket in this T20, is that we have taken some lessons from the 50-over World Cup, prepped, and will try to mix it with the intensity in which we need to do it, and the energy that we need to bring for T20 cricket.
“We know that T20 cricket is about impact, so we need to find the right combinations, the type of players that we need, and the certain roles that are going to impact certain situations in the game properly.”
South Africa and Ireland will wrap up their three-match T20 series in Benoni at the Willowmoore Park Cricket Stadium before swiftly turning their
focus to the ODI series against the Irish women.
