Cape Town — “Feel it, it is here!”
And with the opening game at Newlands just a week away, Proteas’ Women’s captain Sune Luus wants to keep the ICC T20 Women’s World here in South Africa.
“I’m extremely excited to be here as part of this historic moment for South African cricket, hosting a women’s T20 World Cup for the very first time,” Luus said at the official captain’s press conference at the foot of Table Mountain on Saturday.
“As a team, we’re really excited to be representing our nation here at home and we’re looking forward to doing everything we can to keep the trophy here at home.
“The excitement that we’ve experienced from people here in Cape Town and all over the country, telling us how excited they are to support us and the tournament has been really humbling and we just want to go out there and do our best for them.”
The pressure of hosting a World Cup has weighed heavily on Proteas’ teams of the past – both men and women – as they have yet to progress beyond the opening rounds.
But Luus feels that the Class of 2023 has what it takes to create their own bit of history, despite the shock exclusion of former captain Dane van Niekerk on fitness grounds.
"The aim for every team in the World Cup is obviously to win that trophy... So hopefully, this year is our year where we can actually get through the semi-finals, get into that final and hopefully keep the trophy in South Africa. That would be amazing.
"We are used to the conditions, obviously being a home World Cup as well, we know what to expect from every ground we're going to be playing on. Hopefully, we can use that to our advantage."
The Proteas will enter the tournament filled with confidence after beating 2021 T20 Women’s World Cup runners-up India in a Tri-Series final in East London this week. It was also achieved without star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, which according to Luus highlights the depth of the current squad.
“We're a very well-balanced team. This year we have a good balance of experienced players as well as new youngsters coming through. That makes it very exciting for us.
“Our bowling attack has always been our strong suit, but I think we have a very powerful batting lineup as well. That's something I look forward to seeing come to the fore in this World Cup.
“We have our standouts. We have Marizanne Kapp in the team, she's always a very good T20 player. Laura Wolvaardt up the order as well. Chloe Tryon is very powerful as well, and also Shabnim Ismail, our pocket rocket.
“And then we have some youngsters coming through. Nadine de Clark, someone I think is a very underrated cricketer, but is very good, and Nonkululeko Mlaba, she's a very good bowler and also someone that I think is very underrated,” Luus said.
As at every major tournament, the Proteas’ biggest threat will be defending champions and favourites Australia. The Aussies have shown in recent years that they are on a different level to their opponents and will look to show that again here in South Africa.
“It’s great to be here, we’ve been looking forward to this tournament for a while. We’ve spent a couple of days getting used to the new climate – it’s pretty hot here – and there’s some amazing things to see and experience. We’re pumped to be here, World Cups are always massive to be a part of and we’re looking forward to taking on everyone else in our pool and hopefully, playing well,” Australia captain Meg Lanning said.
The Proteas face Sri Lanka in the tournament’s opening match at Newlands on Friday before facing New Zealand, Australia and Bangladesh.
IOL Sport