Nadine de Klerk, Proteas stalwart, celebrates wicket during the T20 International Series match against England. BackpagePix
South African all-rounder Nadine de Klerk says the Proteas have an eye on next year’s World Cup with every ODI encounter following their convincing six-wicket win against England on Wednesday.
The Proteas lead the three-match series 1-0, and they need to win either of the remaining two matches to secure their first-ever series win against the former world champions.
The return of Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka injected a lot of experience and balance into the side, and it didn't take long for their quality to show, further outlining how they were missed in the T20 series, where they were outplayed in every department to lose the series 3-0.
South Africa has a slightly better record in ODI cricket than they do in T20I, but they will welcome their win against a strong England after they lost 3-0 to India the last time out and 1-1 prior to that with Sri Lanka earlier this year.
All-rounder Nadine de Klerk was pleased with their comeback and wants South Africa to carry the momentum for the rest of the series.
“We play cricket to win cricket games; it was a really disappointing series in the T20s,” De Klerk told the media after the match
“We obviously gave a few opportunities (to young players), and we knew we didn't play our best cricket, and to come out against the same opposition and to get a convincing victory is a great start to the series, and hopefully it gives us a bit of momentum going into the next couple of games as well.”
De Klerk played a key innings of 48 off 28 balls and took off the pressure from captain Laura Wolvaardt as the target got closer, but she credited her skipper in making it easy for her to come out and express herself with her hard-fought innings.
The 24-year-old also added that this current team has what it takes to win the World Cup to be hosted by India next year.
“Wolfie played the innings that we probably needed for our side, and that's her role in the team; she is the anchor and our leading run scorer. My role was different from hers, and when I came in, they had a lot of fielders on the circle trying to put pressure on the incoming batter,” she said.
“Today was one of those days where I backed myself and tried to find those gaps, and it paid off. All credit has to go to that top four that really built the platform for myself and Kappie to come in and just play our natural game towards the back end of that innings.
“The upcoming World Cup is massive for us, and we would like to win it. We have done well in the T20 World Cup the last couple of years, and I think we are a really good ODI side, and England is equally a good side with quality players, and to come out and win convincingly like we did. It's always a positive sign.
“There is plenty of work to be done over the next couple of series’ that we have; the main focus in the upcoming fixtures is all in preparation for that ODI World Cup.”