Huge World Cup test for Momentum Proteas
Momentum Proteas head coach, Hilton Moreeng believes the
best is yet to come from his team but remains focused on taking each game as it
comes and collecting the points on offer as they prepare for their fourth 2022
ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup clash against New Zealand in Hamilton on
Thursday.
The exciting match up will get underway from 14h00 local time (03h00 CAT) at Seddon Park, with all the live action available on SuperSport Grandstand in South Africa.
The Proteas Women enter the contest against the hosts boasting a hundred percent record following three wins from three, including a record chase against England where an all-round display from Marizanne Kapp (5 / 45 & 32) and a half-century from Laura Wolvaardt (77 off 101 balls; 8 fours) made the difference.
Following three close matches to kick off the tournament, which also involved narrow wins against Bangladesh and Pakistan, Moreeng believes despite not performing as they would have liked, taking maximum points remains priority in World Cup cricket.
“Holistically, we haven’t actually played the kind of cricket that we have been playing over the last year and a half,” the coach said.
“If you look from the first game to the third game, we had batters and bowlers in different situations that had to win us the game, so it shows that collectively, in all three departments, we haven’t fired as we would like to, especially by our standards.
“We would love to, eventually, get to a situation where all three departments are firing but in a World Cup, it is very tough, and you don’t always get the ideal game, but we are working towards that.
“The bottom line at the end of the day is that when you are in a World Cup, it is to make sure that you get yourself the two points and that is critical, as ugly as it may be and as tough as it may be, they had to make sure they stuck together and make sure we get the required results,” Moreeng added.
Although New Zealand hold an imposing record over South Africa overall in One-Day International cricket, with the White Ferns winning 11 of their previous 16 encounters, Moreeng’s charges claimed three of those five wins in a 3-0 whitewash in a series away from home in 2020.
In assessing tomorrow’s opposition, the head coach said: “They are an all-round team. They had a very successful series building up to the World Cup against India, so it is not a team you can say they have a lot of weaknesses.
“They’ve got a wealth of experience in their changeroom, players who have done it all and we know what they possess,” he continued.
“It’s a team that on their day, play well as a unit, and playing on their home turf; it is a must win game for them as well, so they need to make sure they keep the momentum of winning.
“It is going to be very challenging; we won’t take it away from that and we understand as a team what is going to come, and it is just to make sure that we stay calm as a unit and execute what we need to on the day,” Moreeng added.
South Africa, who currently sit in second place on the table, will next head to Wellington for an exciting double header against first place Australia on Tuesday, 22 March and the West Indies on Thursday, 24 March with both matches held at the Basin Reserve from 11h00 local time (14h00 CAT).
