South Africa Women v Sri Lanka Women World T20 preview – Match 19
Against New Zealand, it was dismissed for 99, losing the last five wickets for just nine runs. The opening pair of Trisha Chetty and Dane van Niekerk has been its only saving grace with the bat with partnerships of 72 and 41 against Australia and Ireland respectively, but even they failed to get going in the previous match.
“I think our biggest concern throughout the last few campaigns has been our batting,” agreed du Preez. “We have played good cricket in patches and I don't think our failures (with the bat) are due to a lack of skill; it's more about execution or maybe planning a little better.
“Our bowlers have done very well to defend the low totals. We have one of the best bowling units in the world, but it is not easy when you don't have runs on the board.”
The match is a dead rubber, but neither team is treating it that way. “It's our final game in the World Cup and we want to end it on a high. I think we will go out there and give it our all,” explained du Preez. “Obviously we know that our tournament is done and dusted in terms of the fact that we can't go through to the semifinal, but there's still a lot to play for and I think we want to go home with some positive memories.”
The sides are quite equally balanced, but South Africa’s strong bowling attack led by the pace of Shabnim Ismail and the guile of Sune Luus would mean it goes into the match with its noses slightly ahead.
Teams (from)South Africa Women: Mignon du Preez (capt), Trisha Chetty (wk), Moseline Daniels, Dinesha Devnarain, Odine Kirsten, Yolani Fourie, Chloe Tryon, Shabnim Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Masabata Klaas, Ayabonga Khaka, Lizelle Lee, Marcia Letsoalo, Sune Luus, Dane van Niekerk.
Sri Lanka Women: Chamari Atapattu (capt), Nilakshi de Silva, Nipuni Hansika, Ama Kanchana, Hansima Karunaratne, Eshani Lokusuriyage, Sugandika Kumari, Harshitha Madavi, Yasoda Mendis, Udeshika Prabodhani, Oshadi Ranasinghe, Inoka Ranaweera, Dilani Manodara, Prasadani Weekakkody, Anushka Sanjeewani.