Last Update: February 26, 2023, 09:55 IST
Before the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final, captain Sune Luus believes his history-making South African side can end a ‘wonderful tournament’ by lifting silverware in front of their supporters as they continue their mission to inspire a nation Are.
Luus will go where no South African has gone before at Newlands on Sunday as he prepares to lead his side in their maiden ICC World Cup final.
The Proteas showed their guts to beat England by six runs in Friday’s semi-final and will be backed by an enthusiastic Cape Town crowd as they look to get the better of the defending champions.
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“It’s been an amazing tournament so far, on and off the field. The goal for us was to inspire the nation, to put women’s cricket on the map in South Africa, to get young girls and boys to pick up their bat and ball and, and I think That was to promote the women’s game in South Africa in general and also to stay on the map,” Luce said at the pre-match press conference.
“In this context, we are definitely working. This is something we never imagined that there would be people queuing up to buy tickets for a women’s cricket match in our country.
This is very special. I don’t think we can do more to show that we are serious about women’s cricket in this country. Winning the final would be the ultimate cherry on top,” she said.
To do so, South Africa will need to improve on their group stage performance against Australia, which they won by six wickets on 18 February.
The Proteas have evolved since then, with openers Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Britt both fresh from back-to-back half-centuries, and fast bowler Shabnim Ismail, who bowled the fastest recorded over in women’s cricket history against England, peaking at 127.4 kph. But threw the ball. ,
On his side’s opening pair, Luus said, “They are finding their stride and confidence at the right time. There has been a lot of discussion whether we want to have them in the middle order or up the middle order.” whether to go or not.
But he has shown his class and he has proved many people wrong. They have the confidence to go out tomorrow, play their game and hopefully we get off to a good start again.”
“We were 20, 30, 40 runs short in the last game [against Australia] So it’s up to us to take it as deep as we can, whether we get 120 or 190 on the board,” he added.
The captain will insist that South Africa play the game instead of Sunday’s chance, but knows that whatever the result, it has been a transformative few weeks.
“I got a lot of messages last night and during the day,” Luce said.
“It’s starting to sink in and every time I open my phone, every time I see a message I get more emotional.
Whatever happens tomorrow, I feel very proud of the team, the management team and what we’ve done. It’s been an incredible journey and an incredible tournament,” she said.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)