Proteas Women have golden opportunity to fine-tune World Cup skills in Pakistan

The Proteas women have arrived in Pakistan ahead of the three-match One Day International Series that is scheduled to get underway in Lahore from 16 to 22 September.

With the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup scheduled to start eight days after the last match of the series, the Proteas women have a golden opportunity to sharpen their skills and build confidence in Pakistan, as they will mostly play in similar conditions in India and Sri Lanka during the showpiece event.

The upcoming series is the side’s second in Pakistan in the last two years, and the trip itself is the third that South Africa has made to Pakistan in the same period.

Apart from the 17-year-old Karabo Meso, who is on her maiden trip to Pakistan, the rest of the squad has an excellent understanding of the conditions in Pakistan and the nature of the opposition that they will have in the series.

On the bowling front, the slower seamers seem to have the most success in the subcontinent as Tumi Sekhukhune and Nadine de Klerk played key roles in the previous two tours.

Sekhukhune, albeit being a T20I series, finished as the top-wicket taker for South Africa last year, as the right-arm seamer took five wickets in three games at an average of 14.

A year prior, De Klerk played a series-defining hand, taking eight wickets in three games at an average of 11, while also being quite handy with the bat as she resisted one unbeaten half-century to help the visitors secure a 2-1 ODI series victory.

With the bat, senior batters Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus had an excellent ODI series in Karachi two years ago. Kapp finished as the top-tun scorer in the series with 150 runs in three innings as she brought up one sparkling century.

On the other hand, Luus brought up her maiden ODI century in Karachi and went on to finish behind Kapp with 127 runs at an average of 64.

These performances will be in the players’ memory banks, as the sides push for similar results in Lahore.

Building a winning habit ahead of the World Cup will do the team the world of good. Moreover, the team needs to use the series to learn what their best XI is.

There are a couple of question marks around the XI, and one includes top-order batter Anneke Bosch. The right-handed batter has not played international cricket this year; however, the coaches suggested that she looked good during the team camp in Durban.

Will the 32-year-old walk straight back into the starting XI?

There are plenty of options in the batting front, including Annerie Dercksen and Chloe Tryon being pushed higher up in the order. The two were South Africa’s best batters in Sri Lanka, the side’s last trip to the subcontinent.

Do they get a run in Pakistan in an attempt to prepare them for the role they might potentially play in the World Cup?

All the questions will be answered in Lahore over the next week, and the side needs to make the most of the series as they push to bring the World Cup trophy to South Africa.