Photo Credit: Cricket South Africa
Momentum Proteas head coach Hilton Moreeng along with all-rounder Suné Luus are keen to begin their final preparations towards the hugely anticipated ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, when they face India on Thursday, 19 January as the Women’s T20I Tri-Series commences.
The action will get underway at the Buffalo Park Stadium at 19h00 (SAST), with all the matches broadcast live on SuperSport Cricket (Ch. 212) and SABC Sport, as well as on multiple international broadcasters including Sky Sport and STAR.
Ahead of the tri-series opener between South Africa and India, Coach Moreeng faced the members of the media as the team look forward to the challenge ahead.
“For us as a team, the build-up has been very good. It’s been a while that we’ve been working, and the team and the squad has been gelling very nicely over the last couple of days. The good thing is we’ve been here before and we could acclimatize and even see what the conditions offer.
“Where we are now, the combinations have been coming off well. As a squad, we are in a very positive mood, every player knows where they fit in and it is just for us to know when the opportunity comes as the games come thick and fast, that we can make sure that each and every member of the squad can get an opportunity in the middle to ensure that come the World Cup, everyone has enough game time.
“We are heading in the right direction,” the head coach added.
Looking at their first opponents, India, in a Tri-Series that also features the West Indies, South Africa last played the subcontinent side in the shorter format in March 2021, where the Proteas Women recorded a famous 2-1 series win away from home in Lucknow. That success helped the South African side improve their win ratio to 33% against India, with four wins in 13 matches that also includes a no result.
Speaking on the eve of the opening clash, skipper Luus touched on her side’s approach to facing the challenge of the 2020 T20 World Cup finalists:
“We’ve seen the Indian team and we have played against them a lot. They’ve played against England Australia recently, so we know what to expect, we know all the combinations that they can possibly throw at us.
“We are just excited to kick off the Tri-Series tomorrow (Thursday, 19 January) and get the games underway,” she concluded.
Momentum Proteas 17-player squad for T20I Series (vs India and West Indies):
Suné Luus (Fidelity Titans) (Captain), Chloé Tryon (Hollywoodbets Dolphins) (Vice-Captain), Anneke Bosch (North West Dragons), Tazmin Brits (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Nadine de Klerk (Six Gun Grill Western Province), *Annerie Dercksen (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Lara Goodall (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Shabnim Ismail (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Sinalo Jafta (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Marizanne Kapp (Eastern Province), Ayabonga Khaka (DP World Lions), Masabata Klaas (North West Dragons), *Tebogo Macheke (Fidelity Titans), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Tumi Sekhukhune (DP World Lions), Delmi Tucker (Six Gun Grill Western Province), Laura Wolvaardt (Six Gun Grill Western Province)
*Uncapped Players
T20I Tri-Series (South Africa, India, West Indies)
Thursday, 19 January 2023 – 19h00 SAST
1st Tri-Series T20I: South Africa vs India (Buffalo Park, East London)
Saturday, 21 January 2023 – 15h00 SAST
2nd Tri-Series T20I: South Africa vs West Indies (Buffalo Park, East London)
Monday, 23 January 2023 – 19h00 SAST
3rd Tri-Series T20I: India vs West Indies (Buffalo Park, East London)
Wednesday, 25 January 2023 – 15h00 SAST
4th Tri-Series T20I: South Africa vs West Indies (Buffalo Park, East London)
Saturday, 28 January 2023 – 19h00 SAST
5th Tri-Series T20I: South Africa vs India (Buffalo Park, East London)
Monday, 30 January 2023 – 15h00 SAST
6th Tri-Series T20I: West Indies vs India (Buffalo Park, East London)
Thursday, 02 February 2023 – 15h00 SAST
Tri-Series Final (Buffalo Park, East London)
Name of Author: Cricket South Africa
Cricket South Africa (CSA) governs cricket in South Africa. Formed in 2002, it succeeded the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCB) and became the sole governing body in 2008. CSA oversees all levels of cricket, including national teams for men and women, and is a full ICC member and SASCOC affiliate.