Mandla Mashimbyi aiming to eat away at that ‘little elephant’ of winning the World Cup with Proteas women
South Africa’s women’s cricket team, led by coach Mandla Mashimbyi, aims to win the Women’s Cricket World Cup hosted by India and Sri Lanka, focusing on incremental progress to avoid pressure, as they have twice reached ICC event finals, including a World Cup final before the men’s team.Picture: Michael Sherman/IOL
Image: Michael Sherman/IOL
As the Proteas begin their Women’s Cricket World Cup campaign on Friday against England, South Africa coach Mandla Mashimbyi is not shying away from the fact that his charges dearly want to win the tournament.
The tournament is being hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
The Proteas have twice reached the final in ICC events dating back to the 2023 event, which South Africa hosted.
Incidentally, the women’s side reached the final of a World Cup before the much-fancied men’s team did. The Proteas men achieved that feat for the first time in 2024 in the T20 World Cup final, which they lost to India.
Focus on Incremental Progress to Avoid Pressure
“The ambition is probably the same as every team, to carry the trophy at the end of this tournament. What’s going to be important for us is to play every game on merit and take it game by game,” said Mashimbyi.
“We’re looking to eat away at that little elephant, and that’s going to be key so that we don’t just create unnecessary pressure. The key is just to take it game by game and then just make sure we show up every game.”
Earlier this week, Proteas skipper Laura Wolvaardt told SportsBoom.co.za: “(Winning the World Cup) would be massive. Obviously, ODI World Cups come around every four years, so it’s a very rare opportunity.
“It’s something that every cricketer dreams of, winning a World Cup and ODI World Cup, probably even more so.”