Proteas captain Sune Luus, in action here against New Zealand, says the team will take the fight to Australia in their T20 World Cup pool match on Saturday.
The Proteas are fully focused on just one thing and that is making some history and beating Australia in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup pool match in Gqeberha on Saturday night (7pm start).
It is an extremely important game, as a win for the host nation would keep the fate of their progress to the competition semifinals firmly in their own hands, while a loss would mean that they will have to rely on other teams doing them a favour.
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After losing their tournament opener against Sri Lanka, the Proteas bounced back emphatically with a thumping win over New Zealand and they will now try do something they have never done before, and beat Australia.
Despite the fact that a loss against Australia could mean that their progress to the knockouts could come down to net run rate, that is not something that the team is worrying about, as they are aiming win.
“Some of the coaches might be keeping an eye on that but for the players we are very much focused on every game. If we get a win tomorrow (Saturday) and a win on Tuesday the net run rate won’t matter,” explained Proteas captain Sune Luus.
“So the focus for us is just on each game as it comes. The task ahead is Australia and that is what we are fully focused on.
“If you look at the previous games we have played against Australia it has always been close. I don’t think they’ve ever run away with a game against us, which gives us a lot of confidence.”
If they want to stand any chance of beating the defending champs and pre-tournament favourites, the Proteas will need to be firing on all cylinders in all three departments of batting, bowling and fielding.
Their bowlers will have to play a particularly vital role as they try and tame what is a fearsome Australian batting line-up.
“We have a world class batting attack and a world class bowling attack and we are taking on a world class team. So I think it’s going to be a great clash tomorrow,” admitted Luus.
“There is no reason for us to stand back. The only way to beat a team like Australia is to take the fight to them and that is what we are going to try to do.
“The pitch looks amazing. It has a bit of grass on and it looks nice and hard. They have a great bowling attack with some top pace bowlers and we do as well. So I think it is going to be a great contest.
“We will also have to see how the pitch will play under lights. It might be skidding on a bit quicker. So I think the pace bowlers are going to play a vital role in the match.”
The Proteas batting department has also failed to fire so far in the tournament, with below par efforts against Sri Lanka and New Zealand, but Luus believes it will take just one big effort to get them going, especially in a match that they need to perform in.
“We can definitely pull it off (strong batting performance). I think our top three just hasn’t fired the way they would have wanted to and we all know the ability that they have. So it is just about one innings for them to get some momentum,” explained Luus.
“So tomorrow is another opportunity for them to fire and play that aggressive cricket that we want to play and know Australia is going to play.”