Sune Luus reflects as Proteas Women recover from World Cup-opening defeat

ONE can only imagine how difficult it must have been for the Proteas women to get themselves in the right state of mind after the 10-wicket thrashing against England Women in their first match of the ongoing 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.

Being bowled out for under 70 in your World Cup opening match could dampen team spirit, and everything could go downhill from there.

However, South Africa were able to find the strength to lift themselves up and bounced back with an emphatic six-wicket victory over New Zealand Women in their second game earlier this week.

Proteas opening batter Tazmin Brits brought up a record-breaking fifth century in 2025 and was supported brilliantly by Sune Luus with an unbeaten 83 as South Africa secured their first win of the tournament.

Reflecting on the days following the tough loss to England Women, Luus told Independent Media that they could not afford to dwell on their disappointments.

The former captain emphasized that they had to change their attitude and bring their A-game to save their World Cup campaign.

"It was the first game. We couldn't be down in the dumps, so we just stayed positive and said it was a really bad day at the office," Luus said. "That's not really the team we are and we want to be. So, the next game we just had to be at 100%, change attitudes, come with a positive intent and just play some good cricket."

Luus and Brits combined for a 159-run stand for the second wicket to secure the victory for South Africa.

Luus praised Brits for her outstanding form, having scored three hundreds in four innings, and highlighted that their partnership was crucial in the team's win.

"She's (Brits) been exceptional. I don't know what she's eating in the mornings or evenings, but she must keep it up. I'm always happy to see a teammate perform like that. When she does well, the team does well," she said.

"I think it was a very important knock. I think my partnership with Tazmin really set up the win for us. I was happy to contribute and get a not out at the end. We always speak about the top four batting long and batting through, and I think that's exactly what we did.

"We needed that win to get on the board. We know with this competition, every game is important. So, I think if you go too down in the beginning of the tournament, you're on the back foot already. It was really important for us to get that win and just to get some momentum into the competition."

South Africa take on hosts India Women on Thursday and will have to deal with the added pressure of the home support India will receive in Visakhapatnam.

However, the Proteas women are prepared and are looking to maintain a positive mentality and attitude going into the fixture.

"Probably the same (mentality and attitude) we brought to the New Zealand game. Every game is a crunch game," said Luus."So, we're going to be really focused on them (India), get our game plans ready, get our strategy ready and hopefully come with good spirits and play some hard and competitive cricket."