Chloe Tryon shares her journey with Proteas Women as they prepare for World Cup

Proteas Women all-rounder Chloe Tryon said the recent Tri-Series tournament in Sri Lanka, which they were knocked out of, was one of her hardest tours to date. 

The Proteas faced off against India and Sri Lanka in four matches, three of which they lost, before winning their last game.

The experienced all-rounder said they left everything out on the field during the last game against Sri Lanka, and ended up taking away some valuable pointers for the World Cup in India in September and October.

Managing their energy and effort in the heat and humidity that sub-continent cricket offers was one of the most vital takeaways from the tour, Tryon explained. 

Hot and humid, low and slow are the conditions teams are expected to face in places like India and Sri Lanka, and the recent tour was no different.

The South Africans had to adjust playing close to 40 overs of spin in a match, which was the case in all but three games by the looks of things. 

“I don’t think we expected those conditions. Hot and sticky and humid, I think it was a bit hard to adjust in the beginning,” Tryon said.

“But I think we rose to the occasion and handled that aspect really well.

“With regards to the wicket, there was barely any movement, and it forced us to try and find ways to make a breakthrough.

“So, we learned how to fight through those dead spots and move forward.

“It was probably one of my hardest tours, and I am sure some of the other girls can relate to that.

“We showed resilience as a team to push through and get the win at the end.”

Like the team, Tryon started off her tour slowly, but finished on a high note, scoring 74 runs and taking five wickets, including a hat-trick, in the last match against Sri Lanka, where they won by 76 runs.

Her partnership with Annerie Dercksen (104 off 84 balls) throughout the middle and tail-end of the South African innings is what helped push the Proteas over 300, creating a tough ask for the Sri Lankans.

But it wasn’t all guts and glory, and required some tactical batting on Tryon’s part – tact and precision that she’s picked up along the way through the many series and countries she’s played cricket in. 

“From the moment I walked in, it was about giving her the strike and just spending in the middle,” Tryon said.

“We had to work in different stages. First it looked like we were chasing 270, but the longer we stayed in, the more we tried to attack.

“I said if we made it to the 43rd over, then we could start attacking from both sides and look at 300-plus. 

“I think I’ve played a lot of international cricket and understand that when someone is hitting big on one end, you don’t necessarily need to go out and do the same.

“Dercksen was firing at that moment, and I just let her do her thing while I took my time to get a feel for the ball.

“Being in that moment, noticing the moment and staying calm is what you have to do from the other end,” the Durbanite said. 

Tryon scored 18 against India in the opening game, 35 against Sri Lanka and then hit her first half-century of the tour with her 67 against India in their third match. 

“Starting off with those 30-odd runs in the opening games, when we were in a position to win, I had to kind of step back and look at the way I played.

“And then to come back and have two better scores after that just helped me, so I think we can take a lot of positives out of that.

“We had these flashes of good, but as a collective, I think we were disappointed because we didn’t play our best. But these are building blocks to the World Cup. We want to tick off every (box) at this point, and hopefully we can improve in the next one,” Tryon explained. 

In a couple weeks, the Proteas Women squad will jet off to the Caribbean, where they play the West Indies in a series of ODI and T20 matches.

Unlike Sri Lanka, though, the West Indies will provide the fast bowlers with some assistance, but the ambient conditions are close to the sub-continent, with hot and humid weather expected.