South Africa's Sune Luus throws the ball during the Round 1 Women's Cricket World Cup match between South Africa and Bangladesh at University Oval in Dunedin Skipper Sune Luus (pictured) and coach Hilton Moreeng will aim to ensure the Proteas women’s side do not underestimate a tricky Sri Lankan outfit in their upcoming T20I series in South Africa. Picture: Sanka Vidanagama/AFP
Ahead of the T20 International (T20I) series between hosts South Africa and Sri Lanka next week, the women’s Proteas are determined to make a strong start against their tricky opponents as they began their pre-tour camp in Johannesburg on Friday.
Speaking at the start of the squad’s first training session at the Redhill School in Sandton, top-order batter Sune Luus said: “It's been quite a long season but a successful one.
“It will be good for us to finish off the season with a good couple of series wins. Sri Lanka is a very talented squad, we know what they bring. All the subcontinent teams are very spin-dominant and they're very good at their skill.
“It's also a bit concerning that (Chamari) Athapaththu didn't score in the WPL, so she's due some runs. We're playing at grounds where sometimes it's very spin-conducive, so it's going to be a bit of a challenge, but a good challenge. We've had Bangladesh over in December, which is kind of the same vibe.
“We have a very good squad, some new faces as well, which is very exciting. Just excited to get the series up and away,” the 28-year-old added.
Head coach Hilton Moreeng emphasised the importance of preparation over the coming days to help the team take their best foot forward when the action gets underway in the first T20I in Benoni on March 27.
The Proteas have previously experienced slow starts to tours throughout the season, including an opening-series loss against Bangladesh in December.
“At the end of the day, what’s going to be key is how we focus. We work and we speak about these things and it's just unfortunate for us it's become a pattern that we don't want to be accustomed to and we need to make sure that we don't play catch-up cricket,” said Moreeng.
“From the first ball, we need to make sure we're ready for what is coming. The two teams have played a lot of cricket against each other and they know each other very well. There shouldn't be a lot of surprises.”
Echoing her coach’s sentiments, Luus added: “It's always important for us to start and end well. In the first game, we need to be up and running and get that momentum on our side. We start a little bit slow, but we're in-season and there's been a lot of domestic games happening as well, so there shouldn’t be any rustiness there.
“Everyone's good to go and should be ready on Wednesday,” the right-hander said.
After a T20I career spanning almost 14 years since making her debut in September 2012, Luus is on the verge of becoming the most-capped T20I Proteas women’s player, eclipsing former captain Mignon du Preez’s record of 114 caps for South Africa.
Reflecting on the impending achievement, Luus revealed her shock at possibly becoming the most capped T20I player for her country.
“I didn't even know that was a thing. It's scary to think that I'm only 28 and I'm gonna be the most capped, but it's a huge honour to be playing so many caps for South Africa and to wear the green and gold, and to do it alongside people I've been growing up with and my family is gonna be there as well. it's gonna be an amazing day and it's a very good day in my career,” Luus said.
The first T20I between South Africa and Sri Lanka takes place at Willowmoore Park in Benoni from 6pm, with tickets available via TicketPro from R20.
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