South Africa Have Balance And Experience To Be On Journey Of Winning WC, Says Devnarain

Cricket South Africa: South Africa arrive into the Women’s ODI World Cup following a year of mixed results and a new head coach in Mandla Mashimbyi. With a majority of players who played influential roles in South Africa entering the last two Women’s T20 World Cups finals, there is quiet optimism within the camp to put their best foot forward in the upcoming marquee event. In an exclusive conversation with IANS, Dinesha Devnarain, the former South Africa cricketer and current U19 women’s head coach, shares her insights on the team’s prospects in the World Cup, the evolving Wolvaardt-Brits partnership, adapting to little-known venues, spin bowling make-up and more. Excerpts: – Q. Do you believe South Africa have the depth to be considered as genuine title contenders? A. I do think South Africa has really good chances in this World Cup. I know we've had a lot of success in the T20 World Cups and we will be taking that momentum into knowing how to win big games in the longer format. If you look at the balance of the squad, there's quite enough depth. The batting lineup is quite promising and if I look at the bowling attack, we might be a spinner short. But all in all, there's lots of balance and experience in that squad to obviously put their best foot forward and hopefully, get on that journey of winning the World Cup. Q. Given South Africa’s history of punching above their weight in ICC tournaments, do you think a semi-final finish would be a realistic outcome for them? A. I do think the first step would actually just to get a semi-final spot, which I think we're in good stead for that and then we want to get to the final. So whoever we face up in the semi-final, we've just got to play our best game of cricket, and then enter the final. But I do know that's a team wanting to win the World Cup. I know that we're not favourites at the moment and sort of considered the dark horses in this competition, but they've shown before that they can win big games in semi-finals and make it to final. It's just about getting over that hurdle and maintaining consistency under pressure, which becomes a big thing. It's quite a long tournament, so we've got to be really smart in how we schedule our players, and rotating just in terms of role clarity becomes important and then hopefully we get to the final to play our best day of cricket. Q. How much of a concern is the spin bowling department given that there are limited options beyond Nonkululeko Mlaba? A. Mlaba will have to be the spin lead there. I believe she becomes a very pivotal part, especially later on in the competition when the pitches have been used a bit and become a little bit slower. But it's a lot of responsibility just for one spinner, especially in an ODI World Cup, where you're looking at 50 overs of cricket. So I'm hoping the likes of Nondumiso Shangase, Chloe Tryon, and Sune Luus to obviously back the preparation that they have done leading up into this World Cup and make meaningful contributions to the team, because it's going to be a lot for one spinner to take the responsibility of the spin attack. But I also know that South Africans, they rely very heavily on the pace attack. I'm hoping that we use the conditions early on to make the best of that new ball so that the spinners can add value in the middle period. Q. In your opinion, is the fast-bowling department a bit of concern too? A. Marizanne Kapp plays a big and pivotal role for us. Maybe her wicket-taking ability hasn't been there yet, but she's just a quality performer and she just knows how to rise on the big stage when it comes to big games. So yes, she is a banker for us and she's really well-supported by Ayabonga Khaka, Annerie Dercksen and Nadine de Klerk. I think Nadine becomes a dark horse in this pace attack. Just with the way she looks to bowl, her change-ups and characteristics play a very, very important role in that seam attack. So I'm hoping that between them, they can really put the team in creating opportunities, and let it be taken more importantly. I just hope that obviously along with the spinners, we can really put good plans together and have a bowling attack there that's lethal on the particular day. Q. How important will strong starts from the opening pair of Wolvaardt and Brits be in setting the tone for South Africa’s innings, especially when chasing 250-plus totals? A. Laura and Tazmin has been instrumental for us South Africans. They've been putting up big scores and when they both get a good start, we can post those totals of 300. It's the middle order that might be a bit of a concern - like how do we manage that middle period? That's a big thing that we've got to be a little bit more smart about. But in terms of our top order, they've been our biggest success stories. So Marizanne Kapp, Nadine de Klerk, Sune Luus got to control that middle order, in a sense, where they can still take the game forward. It's the same that we speak of Mlaba with the spin attack. It's a bit too much pressure to just rely on those two. We've got to look for areas and find solutions and how to bat in those conditions. What's going to be important is how quickly can we adapt. It's a long tournament and there's travel between different venues. So getting adaptable to the pitch becomes a real challenge. But hopefully, we can turn that into opportunity, seize it and make the most out of the chances on offer. Q. Speaking of venues, they haven’t hosted much international women’s cricket games. How big a factor is it going to be? A. We've got to really adapt well. It starts from whether we bowl or bat first in those first couple of overs to see what score is defendable here or what's a winning score to set. We've got to have constant chats in the middle from the dugout as well to say this is the plan and let's sort of be flexible with it. If we lose wickets, this is the approach we're going to go through. There’s not much information on the grounds. So, the ability to adapt and still throw in the first punch becomes important and it's paramount too. There's just got to be a lot of communication between captain, players, coach and staff to say this is plan A and then if we do adapt if we are not getting so much help, here's plan B, C and D. The most important thing is that you've got to get the right people in the right spots. Whatever the conditions are asking, you've got to know your players very well to say, okay, this period you're going to bowl or there's going to be a change in the batting lineup and this is what's required for this phase. So you've got to be adaptable on the spot. I don't think you can just suss out one game and then just sort of go with the flow. It's going to be an ongoing communication analysis and also matchups against opposition becomes really important. Q. In conditions where spin is likely to play a significant role, do you think South Africa’s batting unit is equipped to handle quality spin attacks, considering they had a collapse in final ODI against Pakistan? A. If you look at that third ODI against Pakistan, we didn't know how to adapt to the spin. I don't know if we sort of went with the mindset that it would play out like the first and second ODIs. Then we got a wicket where it turned and there might be some question marks that's in the dressing room now. I hope the transition from Pakistan to World Cup now is that people would be thinking these are our options and what are we willing to sacrifice? Is it a couple of overs of just being smart or how do you build a partnership? How do you want to rotate strike if the ball is turning and what are our options? They become pivotal conversations and I do believe with the length of this tournament, whether it might play in the morning or afternoon, there will be some wear and tear. We've got to be smart about how we play spin. It hasn't been our best strength in terms of how we counter that. But the girls just back themselves in a lot of areas and it's about doing it now. We speak a lot about obviously the use of crease, feet, and navigate spin with change of guard. So we've got to be brave enough to just back our preparation and be smart in the options that we choose. Q. Would you say the current squad has the balance and experience to match the likes of Australia and India, or is there still a gap in terms of overall readiness? A. If you look at the last 12 months of the ODI cycle, we have a 50 percent win ratio in the ODI format. So it's not a format we solidify ourselves in yet. I do think we have a lot of experience in that squad, though there's only one under 19 player in wicketkeeper-batter Karabo Meso. But if you look at the players in that squad, like Kapp, Wolvaardt, Luus, Tryon, de Klerk, and Khaka, they have been playing for a very long time. So experience, I'll say, yes, it's just about how can we come together as a unit and we've got to have the belief that you can beat anyone on the day. We've got to be smart about it and use the information that we have, look at matchups and the most important thing is to have the believe that we can do it. Our first game is against England and we know that the type of cricket they've been playing under new leadership. So, we've got to just back our skills at the end of the day and believe in ourselves as a unit that we can do it and show that camaraderie out there, because that's important when it comes to the big games. If you go via history, it's not a very good look for us, but we do know anything can change. The success of entering those two T20 World Cup finals put a lot of belief in that camp which, I hope we see it in this World Cup as well. Q. Who do you think would be the X-factor players for South Africa in this World Cup? If you go via history, it's not a very good look for us, but we do know anything can change. The success of entering those two T20 World Cup finals put a lot of belief in that camp which, I hope we see it in this World Cup as well. Also Read: LIVE Cricket ScoreShe has a lot of potential and the ability to single-handedly take games away from opposition. So, those are my two x-factors from a batting and bowling perspective. From an all-around perspective, apart from Kapp, I'll have to go with de Klerk, who's someone that you're going to have to watch out for. Article Source: IANS