The Proteas Women will be out to avenge their World Cup semi-final defeat to England when the teams meet again in Northampton on Monday.
Suné Luus’ team lost by 137 runs in Christchurch in March, having beaten England by three wickets during the league stage of the World Cup, and will use that as motivation going into this three-match ODI series.
“We just had a team meeting about it, saying how much we want to get that win on the board,” Luus said on Sunday.
“In the semi-final, we had a lot of opportunities and didn’t take them. I feel that game could have gone a whole other way and our World Cup journey could have been a bit different.
“With that mindset, we go into tomorrow knowing that we have to take every opportunity, so that we make sure we are on top and don’t give them that satisfaction again.”
The Proteas head into the series without experienced opening batter Lizelle Lee, who on Friday announced her retirement from all formats of international cricket. Lee had travelled to Ireland and England as part of the Proteas 15-player squad.
“It’s a big loss for us but also a big opportunity for some girls to get into the team and start their own career and journey,” said Luus.
“Lizelle told us earlier in the week. It came as a shock to all of us but she has given eight good years to her country and we all respect her decision.”
This ODI series will give other players the chance to stake a claim for a permanent spot in the top order, including Andrie Steyn and Lara Goodall, who performed well during the Ireland series.
“It is very exciting for us to have a young top four and a young squad at the moment,” Luus said. “We are all quite excited about it and just to see what the girls can bring to the table. It’s a big opportunity for some girls to put up their hands to secure their spot in that top four and in the batting order as well.
“The conversations stay very simple. As a batter, your job is to score runs, so that doesn’t change no matter who the opponent is. That will be the focus for tomorrow – to keep our head down, bat and score as many runs as we can.”
Monday’s ODI will start at 3pm (SA time) and be broadcast on SuperSport Grandstand and SuperSport Cricket.
