Brits tops run charts as Proteas face anxious wait

Zaahier Adams

Some of the Proteas' Women's team went up the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, yesterday for an aerial view of the magnificent Dubai skyline.

Others opted to head out to Sharjah to watch the clash of heavyweights Australia and India. This was all to help distract them from the anxious wait too see whether they will indeed be playing their third consecutive ICC Women's T20 World Cup semi-final later this week.

Laura Wolvaardt's team completed their Group B round-robin matches on Saturday with a seven-wicket victory over Bangladesh to add to their 10-wicket triumph over West Indies in the opener and an 80-run victory over Scotland, with a defeat to England sandwiched in between.

Marizanne Kapp (13 not out) and Chloe Tryon (14 not out) took the Proteas' past Bangladesh’ 107, after Tazmin Brits had anchored the chase with 42 off 41 balls.

Unfortunately for the Proteas, they took all of 17.2 overs to reach their target, which saw their net run-rate dip from 1.5 to 1.38, which is well below both England’s 1.716 and West Indies’ 1.708.

This now means the final group game between England and West Indies tomorrow is of vital importance to the Proteas. An England victory would see the Proteas progress, but in reverse should the Windies collect the points it would mean Wolvaardt’s team would be eliminated.

Brits tried to remain philosophical about the situation facing the last year's T20 World Cup runners-up.

“I'm going to try not to be too straightforward, but we're happy we won the game at the end of the day,” Brits said.

“That was our main goal, now we've got to sit and watch, but you never know. I don't want to say too much but it will pan out the way it should be.”

Brits claims she was fully aware of the need to lift the run-rate, but was not able to due to the conditions.

“It was a used pitch. Wasn't easy for batting. The ball was not bouncing and coming through as I thought. So, I don't actually think that was a very easy wicket," she said.

“I'm trying to be aggressive in the Powerplay, whether we need a net run rate or we need a win. I think Powerplay determines the whole entire game, but at the end of the day, we needed to win the game.

“And I think we managed to get that right, which is of course the first box we got a tick and from now on we just have to wait for the net run rate in the you know England and West Indies to play and see what happens from there.”

Brits currently tops the overall run-scoring charts at the T20 World Cup with 155 runs at an average of 51.66. However, her strike-rate is only 105.44, which she admits she is continuously trying to improve.

“I want to do good for the team, especially being an opening batter, and like I said, especially in those Powerplays,” she said.

“So, I don't want my strike rate to be 100 or less. I wanted to get it to the 140 because when we make 45 or 60 in a Powerplay that sets up the whole entire game. Makes it easier because it's not always easy for batters to come in on a surface like this and now they've got to hit fours and sixes.”