'We're not lacking in skill, but in mental toughness' – Dane van Niekerk

South Africa suffered a batting collapse for the second game in a row and slipped to a nine-wicket defeat on Friday, 28 September.

They were reduced to 4/2 before being kept to 101/8. Van Niekerk herself top-scored with 36 off 48, but admitted she batted too slow.

“It was really frustrating today,” she said after the match. “Initially they bowled really well. The wicket was tacky and slow and not easy to get away. In these conditions you’ve to sum it up as quick as possible and find ways to score, [but] I don’t think we did that.

“It’s not a wicket where you come in and you swing from the hip. They bowl really well in their conditions, they set their fields well, we know how athletic they are … As a batting unit we need to earn the right to score on these wickets.”

Insisting they had the skills to do well, she called for more application and a mental shift to “find our mojo”.

“Their batters are making it look a lot easier than I feel it is,” she added. “Maybe I’m wrong – but it’s more a mental thing than skill. We don’t lack in skill, we lack in mental toughness.”

Windies, led by Stafanie Taylor and Natasha McLean cantered to the target easily in 15.3 overs. “There was a length on this wicket that was really hard to hit. We spoke about it at half time and unfortunately we couldn’t get it right,” rued van Niekerk about the bowling.

“Kappie [Marizanne Kapp, who bowled 18 dot balls in four overs] was brilliant up front. She found the length and showed the bowlers what lengths to bowl but for some reason we decided to go full and straight! It’s the complete opposite of what we spoke about and we paid the price.”

The teams have a quick turnaround for the next game on 30 September at the same venue.