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The Proteas Women’s recent 50-over tri-series struggle against Sri Lanka and India is the short-term pain, which they hope to match with long-term gains.
South Africa lost three of the four matches they played in Sri Lanka – two to India and one to Sri Lanka – in the process failing to make the final, which India won by 97 runs.
It was a poor return for a team from which so much is expected given their recent performances at World Cups, albeit in the shortest format. The Proteas reached the final of the previous two T20 World Cups, falling at the final hurdle on both occasions.
That’s why new head coach Mandla Mashimbyi was brought in to lead the team. His mandate was clear when handed the role at the back end of 2024: win an international trophy.
The opportunity to tick that goal off begins in September, when the 50-over World Cup gets under way in India, barely 10 months after his appointment, but it’s a challenge he accepted when he took the position.
South Africa’s disappointing tri-series was Mashimbyi’s first full-length series he has been with the team, having taken over the reins halfway through the Proteas’ all-format home series against England last year.
This was, thus, his first opportunity to put his personal stamp on the squad and has given an indication of the direction of the national side. Mashimbyi added three fresh faces to the tri-series squad in Sri Lanka: Miané Smit (20), Seshnie Naidu (19) and Karabo Meso (17).
The squad was also without regulars Marizanne Kapp, who was being rested, and Anneke Bosch, through injury, which opened the door for Lara Goodall to be included in the side belatedly.
For Mashimbyi it wasn’t just about having the trio of aforementioned youngsters in and around the squad, but an opportunity to see if they would sink or swim.
Smit had been included in national squads before without making her debut, but finally got her first cap in Sri Lanka.
Wicketkeeper Meso also received her first one-day international cap despite Sinalo Jafta being the national keeper without any challenge to her position since the retirement of Trisha Chetty in 2022, and Naidu’s national team debut came at the expense of Nonkululeko Mlaba, the team’s premier spin bowler for the better part of the past four years.
Mashimbyi is evidently not afraid of making big calls. They have not all worked immediately, however. Meso played in the opening two matches – which South Africa lost by 15 runs and five wickets respectively – and came in to bat at number four.
Although her glovework was tidy, she struggled to rotate the strike with the willow. She found herself eating up dot deliveries, which built pressure on herself and the team. She scored seven runs off 17 deliveries against India and nine off 27 balls in the second match against Sri Lanka.
Meso was replaced by Jafta in the final two matches after suffering a “heat-related illness” while behind the stumps in the second match.
Naidu, meanwhile, struggled with control, although she did take a wicket on debut against Sri Lanka in South Africa’s dead-rubber, 76-run win, but she conceded 40 runs in five overs. At 19, there is still a lot to learn in the art of leg spin bowling for Naidu, but the framework for the talented bowler is there.
Smit fared slightly better, scoring 39 runs off 54 balls the first time she has batted in national colours, as well as bowling tidily with her off-spin in her second match, picking up a wicket and only conceding 35 runs in eight overs.
Although the results were not ideal, there was a lot to learn about the players for Mashimbyi.
All-rounder Annerie Dercksen (24) had a coming-of-age series with the bat in Sri Lanka.
Across the four matches, Dercksen scored 276 runs at an average of 92, with scores of 30, 61 (not out), 81 and 104.
With the exception of her second half-century, against India, all her other knocks came while batting at number seven, which made her scores even more impressive.
Her highest score before the tour to the subcontinent was 29 and her career batting average was 17.5. It’s now teetering towards 50.
“Definitely a breakthrough series for her with the bat,” captain Laura Wolvaardt said about the young all-rounder.
“She was absolutely phenomenal. I joked that every game she was getting 20 runs more than the previous one.”
Dercksen’s debut century came off only 81 deliveries, at a time when the side were on five for 85 in the 20th over. She helped take the team to 315 and secure their only win of the series.
“To get 100 off 80 [81] balls in conditions that are foreign to us was absolutely amazing,” Wolvaardt added.
The decision to continue batting her at number seven despite her being the most comfortable with the willow in subcontinent conditions was due to Mashimbyi’s long-term thinking.
“Coach Mandla has a vision in his head of how that World Cup squad is going to look,” Wolvaardt said.
“He has a vision of how he wants that World Cup to go and wants people to bat in roles they probably will in that tournament.
“Dercky has put her hand up massively for a promotion so we’ll see what he says.”
The Proteas Women will play a T20 and 50-over series against West Indies in June as they continue their preparation for the quadrennial showpiece.
Mashimbyi only has a few more matches left to find the ideal balance and personnel that he believes will ensure South Africa’s first senior International Cricket Council trophy and complete his mandate as coach in the process. DM
This story first appeared in our weekly Daily Maverick 168 newspaper, which is available countrywide for R35.
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