Proteas women keen to turn the tables on England

Still smarting from their T20 international whitewash at the hands of England, the Proteas Women will be buoyed by the return of stalwarts Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka to the fold.

SA face England in the first of three ODIs starting at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley on Wednesday (2pm).

England will have a skip in their step after producing a clinical performance to clean sweep the T20 series 3-0 over the relatively inexperienced Proteas side, bereft of bowlers Kapp and Khaka.

Speaking in her pre-match presser on Tuesday, SA captain Laura Wolvaardt insisted the camp was upbeat despite the T20 shellacking on home soil.

“The mood is still good in the camp. We had a couple of new faces join us like Kappy [Marizanne Kapp] and [Ayabonga] Khaka. It is a new format and it is a format that we feel we are pretty good in as a side and had some success in the past,” Wolvaardt said.

“We are very happy with the opportunity some of the youngsters got in the T20s. It will be good for our side going forward, but it is always nice to welcome experience back. 

“We have had some good days of prep, and we are keen to have a good start on Wednesday,” she said. 

The fixture will lay the cornerstone of former Titans mentor Mandla Mashimbyi’s tenure as head coach having taken over the reins from Dillon du Preez, who had been serving as the interim coach.

Mashimbyi, 44, has been part of a successful era with the Titans in which the Centurion-based union became the most dominant provincial team during and after the end of the franchise system.

Mashimbyi worked as an assistant to the current Proteas men’s one-day coach Rob Walter and then with Mark Boucher before the latter moved to coach the Proteas men’s team in 2019. 

“He has a lot of experience as a successful coach with the Titans. I never worked with him, but I have heard a lot of good things about him, and we are hoping that will rub off on the team,” Wolvaardt said.

The Proteas are fourth behind Australia, England and India in the ICC Women’s Championship. The top four qualify automatically for the 2025 ODI World Cup. India as hosts have already qualified creating some breathing space for the others in contention for the automatic berths.

But Wolvaardt said there was no time for relaxing and emphasised the importance of the team doing well in the England series as it is their last in the championship.

“This is a big series for us. Every game counts in the championship and we want to end as high as we can on the log. We are disappointed with how things happened in the T20 series, but we are looking to bounce back,” she said.