‘Our fielding needs a lot of work’: Proteas wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta

They are confident of hitting back against hosts Sri Lanka, but Proteas wicketkeeper/batter Sinalo Jafta admits the SA team need to be more accurate in the field if they hope to secure a consolation victory in their last match of the women’s ODI tri-series in Colombo on Friday (6.30am start).

Jafta missed the first two games of the series, after making way for 17-year-old keeper Karabo Meso, but she did turn out in their third straight defeat of the two-week campaign against India on Wednesday.

And while the Proteas women needed to tighten their lines with the ball, and they had struggled to build big partnerships with the bat, Jafta said they also needed to be cleaner and more confident in terms of their fielding.

“It’s a no-brainer. Our fielding needs a lot of work. But at the end of the day for me it’s all about the attitude you have when you go in there,” Jafta said.

“If the first thing you’re thinking is ‘I’m probably going to miss this’ then you probably are, and I think we should just come with that aggressive approach.

“This series has been one where you can be like ‘what is going on?’ because I haven’t seen us put out such performances on the field… and from my perspective we need to treat it like any other skill.

“Like how you bat and bowl, fielding also needs to be up there if you want to win games.”

‘We can get the job done’

Despite losing three games thus far in the tri-series, and missing out on a spot in the final to be contested between Sri Lanka and India on Sunday, Jafta said the Proteas were pumped to hit back against the hosts on Friday.

“I’ve always believed it’s all about the journey. Obviously we’re going to go out there and give it everything we have,” she said.

“The coach (Mandla Mashimbyi) is always like ‘I don’t really care about the win’ but he believes if everyone does their job 100% the result tends to take care of itself.

“So for us I think it’s about ending off on a high… but I’m not really worried because I know we’re a team that reflects a lot. We believe in our talent and the change room believes we can get the job done.”