Snehasis Mukherjee in Dubai
Yesterday evening South Africa was training at the ICC Academy while the England vs West Indies clash was taking place in the Dubai International stadium. They were all keeping a close eye on the game as their semi-final berth was in the balance. As West Indies blew England out of the world cup and ensured the top spot, it also meant South Africa qualified in the second spot.
In a viral video, shared by ICC on their social media platforms, all Protea women jumped in joy after finding out that they have qualified for the semi-final. But now a repeat of the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup final awaits South Africa as they take on Australia in Dubai. Ahead of that all of important clash, South Africa’s star all-rounder Nadine de Klerk had an exclusive chat with RevSportz. Having played in all matches so far and bagged three wickets, she opened up on the campaign so far, about Australia, preparations and lot more!
Three wins out of four, how will you rate the campaign so far?
Nadine: I think pretty good in general. I think we have played some good cricket and obviously it had come down to the last group game basically. We lost the one game in the tournament and I think we have had some pretty convincing wins in our other three games. Except that narrow loss to England in the one game, our efforts have been pretty convincing.
Australia in the semi-final in Dubai. The same as last year’s final which unfortunately did not go your way in front of a strong home crowd. How heartbreaking was it as a team and personally for you?
Nadine: Australia is a world class side and obviously won a lot of trophies and we knew it was going to be really hard playing them last year. We had never really won a game against them before and having never beaten them, it would always be tough. So the odds were kind of stacked against us but it was obviously heartbreaking. Having said that I think it was also record-breaking for South Africa and for us being the first senior team to make a world cup final.
As a team we played really well. So, I think going into it this year, we have a chance. We have beaten them twice already this year. That’s something we will take heart from. So I think we will go in really confident, but we also know that we are going to have to play our absolute best cricket to beat them because they are a world class side and they are used to winning and somehow find ways of winning from tough situations.
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You have played in both grounds, Dubai and Sharjah. Seeing the conditions which ground is better suited to your team?
Nadine: Obviously Sharjah is a bit slower than Dubai, but I think we have actually done well. We only played the one game in Sharjah, but I think we did well. I think it suits our bowling attack as well. Dubai might be a bit higher scoring than Sharjah and a bit quicker. Probably the fairest contest between bat and ball. There is also a bit of assistance for the bowlers. So I think it should be a good game of cricket in Dubai.
Do you think that you guys failed to handle pressure well against England and that was an issue?
Nadine: I think it was probably the case. I think we were in the game there and I also think it was probably our game to lose from the position we were in. We gave them a lot of opportunities and we paid the price. It was a good game and we were probably in the driving seat for most of that game. But I must also tell you that playing under pressure is going to be really important. If you do not want to crack under pressure, especially when we play Australia in the semi-final, you want take every opportunity that presents itself and be in the moment. That is going to be really important.
Any all-rounder from South Africa or around the globe who you have taken inspiration from and why?
Nadine: Probably Marizanne Kapp and playing alongside her for the last eight years or so has been great and you just learn so much from her. She has shown over the last couple years why she is probably one of the best around the world. Nat-Sciver Brunt is another such player. If you are a young player and you are looking up to someone and you want to follow in someone’s footsteps, they are probably right up there in the women’s game at the moment. It is really hard to be that good in all three departments. If you can just achieve half of what they have over the last couple of years, I think you would be proud.
Batting opportunities have been very limited for you in this world cup. Will you have a chat with the team management?
Nadine: You always want to contribute to the side and it has been frustrating personally. Obviously, not having batted this whole tournament thus far, but in the same way they want to say look we have batted so well as a team. The fact that I am batting at number eight is a good sign for this team because it shows that our batters have actually done really well and we have that depth. We have two of the leading run scorers in the tournament in our side. In the last couple of years, our batting department has not really been consistent.
Here things have been different and we have been consistent in all our games. Personally, I would have loved to contribute a bit more but I am happy that the team is doing well and at the end of the day this is a team sport. This is why we do what we do. I am a part of the team and we will love the trophy at the end of this tournament even if I have not hit one ball in the game. It is the way the game goes but you never know, you know, I might get a hit in the in the semi-final or final.
Some words on Laura Wolvaardt, the skipper. Any specific thing that you really take inspiration from?
Nadine: I just think the calmness is so good to see. Especially in World Cup, there is a lot of pressure. You almost have to win every single game and keep a good net run rate and all those sort of things and there is a lot of outside noise and stuff going on. So, if you are a bit frantic, it can become really hard and that kind of spreads to the rest of the group as well.
She has been a very good leader because she is always kind of the same and she manages her emotions really well. She is still learning with the captaincy on the field and this calmness is something that is really going to benefit the side over the next couple of days, especially going through to the semi-final and final.
Also Read: Women’s T20 World Cup: Reality check for Smriti Mandhana?