South Africa may have taken a significant step towards the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals with their victory over India, but head coach Mandla Mashimbyi believes there is still another level his side can reach.
With crucial group-stage fixtures against the Netherlands and Bangladesh still to come, Mashimbyi insists the Proteas’ focus remains firmly on producing the complete performance they have been searching for throughout the tournament.
“I think we just want to focus on how we want to play cricket, which is obviously this aggressive brand of cricket, which we haven’t been doing in the past few games,” Mashimbyi told reporters ahead of Thursday’s clash with the Netherlands.
While South Africa have shown resilience to defeat both Pakistan and India, the coach admitted the batting unit is still striving for consistency.
“We’re still obviously working towards that complete performance from a batting point of view. Hopefully maybe the next two games will get the confidence needed for us to make sure that when we go through, we are where we need to be as a batting unit.”
Mashimbyi revealed he never lost belief during South Africa’s tense chase against India, despite the mounting pressure.
“I was pretty confident, to be honest with you, because I always believed that we just needed a partnership.”
That partnership eventually came through Marizanne Kapp and Tazmin Brits, who steadied the innings before accelerating towards victory.
“Kappe and Brits put in a good partnership to make sure that we crossed the line,” he said.
“Because the game wasn’t too far away from us, we just knew that we needed one big over and then we’re back in contention.”
The coach admitted he was calmer during the India chase than he had been against Pakistan.
“I was pretty calm. If anything, I was probably more nervous against Pakistan.”
Mashimbyi reserved special praise for Marizanne Kapp following her outstanding all-round display, describing it as one of the finest batting performances he has seen from the veteran.
“The reality of it all is that Marizanne has been batting well, bowling well,” he said.
“All I kept telling her was that she’s batting well, she mustn’t worry about the fact that she didn’t put in a performance that she would have liked.”
When the team needed experience most, Kapp delivered.
“You want your senior players to put their hands up, and she did.”
“And she did it in an exceptional way.”
“Probably it’s the best I’ve seen her bat in a long time.”
Mashimbyi also highlighted the work that has gone into improving Tazmin Brits’ T20 batting since South Africa’s tour of New Zealand.
“She’s been working for the past few months now since New Zealand,” he explained.
“There’s a couple of things that we picked up that we felt were going to be essential for her to really push her batting strike rate and average in T20 cricket.”
The improvements were evident against India, although the coach believes there is still even more to come.
“It paid dividends now in this game.”
“You’re sitting there, you’re going, there’s more that she can actually do.”
For Mashimbyi, much of that improvement comes down to mindset.
“Most of the time, it’s actually just mental things that we need to get over.”
“The day our players realise that they need to conquer themselves first for them to conquer the world.”
Attention now turns to the Netherlands, a side Mashimbyi refuses to underestimate despite South Africa entering the contest as favourites.
“The fact that they’re in the World Cup means that there’s something about them and they’re capable of beating any team.”
Rather than focusing on the opposition, the Proteas are concentrating on themselves.
“Our focus is not on them really.”
“Our focus is on how we actually show up on the day.”
Mashimbyi believes complacency would represent the biggest danger.
“The only surprise that I would be wary of is the complacency we bring as a team to this match.”
“If we are complacent, then I’ll be really surprised because every game is important for us now.”
The coach acknowledged that net run rate could become important later in the tournament, but insisted the immediate objective remains simple.
“We just have to keep winning.”
“That’s what we’re focusing on.”
Asked what his ideal performance would look like, Mashimbyi pointed to execution across all three disciplines rather than chasing perfection.
“Executing to your plans as a bowler, executing your processes as a batter, making sure that the energy is always high in the field and we take all our catches.”
“That’s probably the perfect match for me.”
With South Africa’s semi-final hopes firmly in their own hands, the Proteas know victories over the Netherlands and Bangladesh would all but secure their place in the knockout stages.
For Mashimbyi, however, qualifying is only part of the mission.
The bigger objective is ensuring South Africa arrive in the semi-finals playing the aggressive, confident brand of cricket they believe can take them all the way.