The SA team have arrived in Arundel for a pre-tournament camp.
Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi during a Proteas training session. Picture: Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images
If the Proteas can go into the tournament with enough confidence, head coach Mandla Mashimbyi believes the national women’s team can lift their first World Cup trophy in England next month.
After reaching the final at the last two editions of the T20 World Cup in 2023 and 2024, as well as the final of last year’s 50-over World Cup, the SA team are aiming to secure the country’s first global limited overs title at senior level.
Last week they got together for a team building session and two days of training at Wits University ahead of their departure for the showpiece tournament.
After leaving on Monday, they were set to sharpen up with a camp in Arundel (which included three training games against top-ranked Australia between 31 May and 4 June) ahead of a couple of official warm-up matches in the build-up to their opening game of the Women’s T20 World Cup (also against Australia) in Manchester on 13 June.
“I’ve never seen a problem with our ability. It’s just maybe one or two things that you need to align to make sure that they get the right confidence, and in terms of that I think we’re really on the right track,” Mashimbyi said.
“The camp and the warm-up games will be an opportunity for us to try different combinations and for the players to try different options from a bowling and batting point of view.”
‘Excited to go one step further’
Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted they were gutted to have lost three World Cup finals in succession (across both limited overs formats) and she said they were hungry to lift their maiden trophy.
“We would obviously love to win it. We’ve made three finals and it was very disappointing to lose all three of them, but we’re very excited as a group to hopefully go one step further,” Wolvaardt said.
And Mashimbyi felt the only thing they were missing to overcome the last hurdle which still eluded them was sufficient self-belief.
“I think it comes down to belief, and once the belief is there, execution will be top-tier as well,” he said.
“I’ve been assessing the players and the vibes have been really good, and the players can’t wait to get their World Cup caps on, so it’s going to be fun.”
