India have four points, while South Africa have two points from their league stage matches thus far.
Preparing for one of their toughest matches of the opening round, all-rounder Nadine de Klerk says the Proteas are not going to be intimidated when they take the field in their third fixture of the Women’s Cricket World Cup against hosts India in Visakhapatnam on Thursday (11.30am start).
India won their first two games of the tournament against co-hosts Sri Lanka and neighbours Pakistan, while South Africa were thumped in a 10-wicket defeat against England before bouncing back with a six-wicket victory over New Zealand.
And though India were two places above the SA team in the ODI rankings, De Klerk said their comprehensive defeat against England in their tournament opener had lit a fire beneath the entire squad.
“We’re going to have to play them (India) at some stage and it just prepares us well (for the rest of the tournament) because you have to be at your very best,” De Klerk said.
“We were not at our best against England and got put under pressure, so I think it was an eye opener and we have to be ready for every single game we play.”
Three venues within a week
For their first three games of the showpiece, played within the space of a week, the Proteas had to travel from Guwahati to Indore to Visakhapatnam.
While De Klerk admitted this had been a challenge, she said the national squad were not letting it get to them and were just focussing on the task at hand.
“It’s been quite busy. We’ve had a lot of travel, going up and down, but as a team I think we’re just trying to control the controllables and focus on what we can control, and that (travelling) is something that’s out of our control,” De Klerk said.
“I think we’ve really made the best of it and we’ve really enjoyed our tournament thus far. We obviously had a great game the other day against New Zealand, and there’s just a good vibe around our side, so we’re not too focussed on the travelling.”
Slow bowling conditions
De Klerk felt the spin bowling prowess of each team could be the determining factor in terms of the result on Thursday, in conditions which were expected to be suited to India’s slow bowlers, but she also believed the Proteas attack had enough versatility that even their fast bowlers would be able to adapt.
“I think our pacers have done really well (in the first two games of the tournament) and I think we’ve assessed conditions well,” she said.
“All our bowlers have the skill sets to adapt to these slower conditions, and our spinners are world class when they’re on song, so hopefully it can all come together for us.”
