Proteas Women can still get better despite series win over West Indies, says coach Mandla Mashimbyi

Recently appointed Proteas Women coach Mandla Mashimbyi was chuffed with his team’s performance in the Caribbean, after defeating the West Indies 2-1 in an ODI series on Tuesday night. 

The Proteas thrashed the home side by 166 runs via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method after various deluges of rain throughout the evening had interrupted the game.

Mashimbyi said the SA team did well to come back after losing the first encounter by four wickets, and had shown real improvement in their bowling, which lacked discipline in some of their games, according to some of the players.

“I’m excited for the girls. In the last few months, they’ve put in the work, so to come to the West Indies and win a series is a really good thing for them,” Mashimbyi said.

“To come here and put in the performances we’ve seen, and we still feel we are not where we need to be... and they understand that. 

“I’m just happy that they are trying to put things together, but winning at the same time.”

The batting is an area of expertise that the ladies have thrived in over recent tours, putting up 300 runs on more than one occasion last month in Columbo, Sri Lanka, during the tri-series. 

This time round, in the West Indies, the Proteas looked deadly with the bat again – with opening batters Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits doing most of the damage during this ODI series. 

Brits scored a century on Tuesday night with a polished 101, alongside Wolvaardt’s 75 to help the Proteas reach 278 in 45.5 overs – a score they successfully defended.

There were also stand-out performances in the previous match, with Nondumiso Shangase scoring an “emotional” half-century.

The win was a milestone triumph for coach Mashimbyi as well, as it was his first tour of the West Indies as the head coach of the Proteas Women. 

Looking ahead to the World Cup in September, which will be played in India, Mashimbyi said the past two tours have given them an opportunity to find their rhythm and order when it comes to the batting line-up, even citing their own ‘Bomb Squad’ of sorts.

“In terms of our batting order, it’s about where you can get maximum impact from each player,” Mashimbyi said.

“It’s not necessarily numbers, but where the player can actually put the team in a good position to win matches and that’s how we look at it.

“We have tried a couple of combinations, but I was happy with what I’ve seen.

“Nondi’s (Shangase) 50 was nice to see, and batting at three. You’ve got Dercky, who can bat anywhere in the order, but we know she can have more of an impact batting lower in the order.

“With her, we call them the dogs obviously... Chloe (Tryon), Dercky and Nadine (de Klerk) are the ones who will be given the responsibility to either take us out of a bad situation or push us into an even better situation.

“It’s really nice to see certain things work. We are still not quite there, but I am sure by the time we get to the World Cup, we should be where we need to be,” he added.

“Bowling is about discipline, and from the first game in Colombo to where we were in the last two games, there has been a massive improvement, and they understand what their roles are and what is expected of them.

“We have seen some fruition with regards to how the players conduct themselves with the ball.

“I think Kappi (Marizanne Kapp) coming back was a big plus for us, she brings a lot of experience.

“Hopefully we take this confidence forward as well.”