Cape Town — The Proteas delivered a "sloppy" performance against Bangladesh in their World Cup opener last week. They will undoubtedly want to be better against Pakistan on Friday.
IOL Sport’s Zaahier Adams takes a look at five areas The Proteas will want to improve on if they’re to achieve what they want to achieve at the World Cup in New Zealand.
1. Partnerships
Coach Hilton Moreeng had flagged it prior to the tournament already. There was only one partnership of significance in the Bangladesh opener with the 71-run sixth-wicket stand between Chloe Tryon and Marizanne Kapp proving critical. If the Proteas are to post totals in the region of 250-plus regularly, they are going to need partnerships to get there.
2. Strike with the new ball
This has been a traditional strength of the Proteas with Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp among the premier new-ball bowlers in the women's game. However, they went wicketless until the death overs against Bangladesh with the first wicket only falling in the 20th over of the innings. Ismail and Kapp are highly-skilled masters of their trade and will want to rectify this immediately.
3. Be more attacking with the field placings
Part of having the most-feared bowling unit in the game is backing them out in the field. Captain Sune Luus was hugely conservative with her field placings in the last game which allowed a few chances to go a begging, particularly through the slip cordon. Dont be afraid to attack!
4. Rotation of the strike
South Africa's reshuffled top-order were caught stuck in their crease last weekend which allowed the Bangladeshi spinners to deliver countless dot balls. A consistent method needs to be employed to get to the other. A boundary is not the only means to transfer pressure with a single off every ball of the over often having the same debilitating effect on the opposition.
5. Limit the extras
The Proteas pride themselves on executing the basics better than other teams, so they would have been disappointed in delivering 17 extras against Bangladesh. Bowling coach Dillon du Preez would no doubt at training this week ensured that there will not be a repeat.
IOL Sport