South Africa's Proteas Women have won their T20I and ODI series against Pakistan but showed fielding and bowling inconsistencies. Coach Mandla Mashimbyi stressed the need to focus on basics for the upcoming T20 World Cup in England. The team aims to leverage its depth to secure a first title.
The Proteas Women secured a 2-1 victory in the T20I series against Pakistan and a 2-0 lead in the ODIs, with one match remaining. However, lapses in performance highlighted areas for improvement. In the second ODI, the team bowled 24 wides and dropped several catches, while the third T20I ended in a 53-run loss, marked by eight wides, four run-outs, and five dropped catches.
Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi acknowledged these issues, stating, “We haven’t been great on the field.” He added, “We’ve been putting down a couple of catches unnecessarily […] And that’s probably one of the biggest ones... that we’re not doing the simple things well enough all the time, so we just have to have the patience in our processes and just focus on executing the simple things very well.” Despite this, Mashimbyi viewed the series positively: “It’s been a good series so far […] and we’ve been playing some really good cricket. The scary thing about this team is that the potential that we have as a team is still there and we’re winning.”
The squad's growing depth has been evident. Captain Laura Wolvaardt scored 61 off 38 balls in the first T20I. Sinalo Jafta notched an unbeaten 57 off 38 in her 50th ODI. Ayanda Hlubi took three wickets in three overs in the opener, while Kayla Reyneke claimed 2-13 and scored 29 not out, earning player of the match. Suné Luus made 93 not out and took 2-31 in the first ODI, and Annerie Dercksen scored 90 and took three wickets in the second.
Mashimbyi praised the all-rounders' flexibility: “A lot of teams don’t have that, where you get people that can bowl and bat […] It’s actually a good thing for us.” The Proteas, who have reached three straight World Cup finals, face a challenging pool including Australia and India at the event starting 12 June in England. Next, they play New Zealand from 15 March to 4 April, followed by a home T20I series against India. The final ODI against Pakistan is on 1 March at 10am.