Laura Wolvaardt has bemoaned her team’s inconsistent performances in the T20 series with New Zealand, but drew comfort from there still being enough time to fix areas of concern before the World Cup in June.
South Africa suffered a crushing 92-run defeat to the White Ferns in the fifth match on Wednesday in Christchurch, losing the series 4-1 and looking largely out of sorts.
Amelia Kerr continued her inspired form since being made New Zealand’s captain at the start of the season, compiling a a 55-ball century which she followed by taking 2/6 with the ball.
In reply to New Zealand’s 194/6, the Proteas slumped to 102/9, with Annerie Dercksen 23, the top scorer.
“We were outplayed in all three facets today,” Woolvaardt said. ”There is a lot for us to learn out of this series.”
One lesson will be consistency and combining all three elements. The Proteas lacked rhythm throughout the series and a failure to build partnerships hampered their batting. Only Dercksen and young Kayla Reyneke scored more than 100 runs across the five matches. Dercksen’s unbeaten 55 in the fourth match was the highest individual score by a South African batter in the series.
“We lost our way with the bat. We are a much better batting unit than that. Having a few batters out of form at the same time is unfortunate,” the South African captain said.
The fielding was ragged as well, while the bowling continues to lack penetration, particularly at the start. Still, Wolvaardt was pleased with Wednesday’s performances from the bowlers in the power play in which her side restricted the hosts to 35/1 in the first six overs.
“We’ve gotten better with that area as the series has progressed, but maybe we could be better at the ‘death.’ In all areas, there’s been glimpses of (good) stuff,” she said.
“I feel like we’ve done well in sections, but then in one game something goes well and then in another something else goes badly. We haven’t really brought it all together at the same time.”
What they do have on their side is time, said Wolvaardt, and another tough series on home soil against India next month will hopefully sharpen skills and boost confidence before the World Cup. They play their opening match in that tournament against Australia in Manchester on June 13.
The Proteas finish their New Zealand tour with a three-match ODI series starting in Christchurch on Sunday. The series is part of the ICC Women’s Championship, which will determine the seven automatic qualifying teams for the 2029 World Cup.
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