Proteas Women’s vice-captain Chloe Tryon believes the team boast some of the best batters in world cricket, but admits that they have not capitalised consistently enough on opportunities offered to them.
She spoke ahead of the team’s second unofficial warm-up match against India in Antigua on Wednesday and expressed her hopes to see the batting unit finally click during the 2018 ICC Women’s World T20 which will be played in the West Indies from 9-24 November.
South Africa lost their first unofficial warm-up match by 17 runs to England on Monday, but Tryon says the team took a lot of positives out of that exercise.
‘The first warm-up game we struggled a bit, especially the middle order with the bat and it’s something that we’re addressing,’ she commented. ‘We started really well up front with Lizelle [Lee], but we just couldn’t carry on that momentum. That middle period of the seventh to the 15th over, we need to capitalise on.
‘The girls have taken a lot in and have been working on a lot of specifics today and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We know that India is going to be bowling a lot of their spinners, so we’ve been working on a lot of different options and running between the wickets is going to be really key for us,’ added Tryon.
Batting collapses have plagued the team in recent times, but Tryon is adamant that it is not a skills problem but rather a mental and confidence issue that each individual needs to address. She said that the unit is working hard at keeping focused and on playing positive cricket rather than allowing themselves to be sucked into playing the way the opposition want them to.
‘Obviously, it’s an area of concern but I feel that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves and then we end up not playing our own game. It’s just about going out there and executing our plans and playing our brand of cricket that we always say we want to play. We need to go out there and express ourselves and give ourselves a really good start up front and really look after that middle period and then finish well,’ said Tryon.
On the World T20, Tryon said the format has become very batter-friendly and she’s looking forward to seeing many big sixes and innovations from the teams participating. It is also a format that makes it difficult to predict winners and with that in mind, cautioned against taking any team for granted.
‘I feel like it’s more of batter’s game at the moment, but obviously, the bowlers are working very hard. All around the world, the batters have been on top form and it’s become a 360° game where they hit the ball everywhere,’ she said. ‘You can see girls playing incredible shots and I feel like there’ll be a lot of sixes but also a lot of running between the wickets and a lot of fancy shots.’
Tomorrow’s warm-up match will start at 9pm SAST at Coolidge Cricket Ground. Updates will be available on Cricket South Africa’s social media platforms on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cricketsouthafrica) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/officialcsa).
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