Proteas Women looking to maintain momentum in ODI series against Irish

The Proteas Women will aim to secure an unassailable 2–0 lead in their three-match one-day international cricket series against Ireland when they take the field at St George’s Park on Tuesday, after a convincing seven-wicket victory in the opening match in East London. Chasing 210 on Saturday, South Africa found themselves 86/3 before a composed partnership betweenSune Luusand debutant Miane Smit steadied the innings and powered the hosts to victory. Coach Mandla Mashimbyi praised the pair for absorbing pressure and then taking control of the chase.

“That partnership was really good to watch,” Mashimbyi said. “They absorbed the pressure, built a platform and then took the game away from the opponents. “The consistency of Sune at the moment is also exciting as she continues to learn how to score runs.” St George’s Park 📍🏟️Match Day -1 prep done as#TheProteasWomen fine-tune ahead of the 2nd ODI against Ireland 🇿🇦🏏#Unbreakablepic.twitter.com/ixhI5zNOF0 Mashimbyi emphasised the team’s long-term vision remained centred on developing a winning mindset and building depth as part of their preparations for the 2029 World Cup.

“What is key for us is creating the habit of winning, no matter the situation or the opponents we are up against. Different players are putting their hands up and that’s important. “We are not reliant on one or two individuals, but on the entire squad.

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As we continue to prepare for the next World Cup, we need to learn how to win games and how to get into good positions in the game and how to get ourselves out of bad situations. “Once you learn to do that, four years is a long time and if you can do that by the time we get to 2029, we should be where we want to be.” Mashimbyi said it was essential to widen their base of players. “We have brought some new players into the squad because we do have a couple of older players in the side and we have to make sure whoever is coming in is getting exposed to international cricket. They need to be given enough opportunities to compete at this level for them to get the confidence they need to have an impact in every game that we play.”

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