Dane van Niekerk lauded the Proteas’ ability to bounce-back from the England defeat to trounce a much-fancied India by 115 runs on Saturday.

The bowling attack was left licking their wounds after being put to the sword by England, highlighted by a mammoth 275-run stand between Tammy Beaumont and Sarah Taylor. Nevertheless, the bowlers rebounded from the thrashing to skittle a world-class India batting unit for 158.

‘I’m incredibly proud of the team, that’s the response that any captain wants to see after a loss like that,’ Van Niekerk said.

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The skipper said introspection and better coming up with better game plans was key to the reversal in fortunes.

‘It was a very tough loss, a lot of bowlers went and had a bit of downtime where they reflected on their personal performances and came back with plans on how they were gonna do better,’ she added.

Van Niekerk feels rest and recuperation is vital in a tournament that potentially spans nine matches and four weeks.

‘It’s a very tough tournament, it’s hard on the body and it’s a long tournament as well. We’re not used to playing tournaments this long so I’m glad they took that time. I’m glad that they hurt [after the England match], because today they came back firing,’ remarked the skipper.

After five matches which has seen them register three wins, the Proteas occupy the final semi-final place though they may be supplanted should hosts England beat Australia on Sunday.

The Proteas face Sri Lanka next  in their penultimate round-robin match on Wednesday.

Photo: Matthew Lewis-IDI/IDI via Getty Images