South Africa captain Sune Luus wants more consistency from her spinners after they lost the 21st match of the ongoing ICC Women World Cup 2022 by five wickets against Australia at the Basin Reserve, Wellington on Tuesday. The Proteas were able to post 271 runs on the board after Lanning won the toss and elected to bowl first.
Luus feels it was a par score but Meg Lanning was outstanding for Australia as she scored 135 runs off just 130 balls to guide her team over the line. In fact, South Africa was also poor in the field as they fluffed as many as seven catches, which led to their downfall ad they suffered their first loss of the tournament.
The Proteas did well to post a par score on the board after Laura Wolvaardt scored 90 runs whereas Sune Luus scored 52 runs. However, the South African bowlers failed to put pressure on the opposition as Lanning scored her 15th ODI century and played a masterclass knock.
Shabnim Ismail and Chloe Tryon scalped two wickets each for South Africa but none of the other bowlers could create an impact. Furthermore, Tumi Sekhukhune was expensive in her spell as she conceded 68 runs in her seven overs.
Sune Luus was pleased with the team’s batting effort but feels they should have done better in the field and also with the ball.
She said in the post-match presentation, “We had a great first innings, the batters did a brilliant job and I thought 270 was par, but Lanning played a brilliant knock today. It’s a difficult one and another day we would have defended that, it’s 50-50. It’s nice to contribute and the batters coming in after (Laura and I) are also contributing at the moment which gives us the platform to go and set big totals. We lost the focus and we will talk about it afterward and sure everyone is happy to come back strong in the next couple of games. Ismail is a great fighter and I thought she bowled exceptionally well, she is phenomenal for us. We need more consistency from the spinners. We have got a one-day break and obviously still haven’t qualified for the semis and still have two big games to come.”
South Africa will look to bounce back stronger in the upcoming matches and come up with a better show in the upcoming matches. The Proteas will next face West Indies Women at Basin Reserve, Wellington on Thursday.
