How a ‘nothing to lose’ mindset emboldened Bosch to play a blinder

On the back of her stunning 48-ball 74* in the semi-final against Australia Women on October 17 (Thursday), Anneke Bosch has become an overnight sensation in the cricketing world.

But it was not too long ago that things weren’t rosy for the 31-year-old, who averaged 18.00 in the group stages of this Women’s T20 World Cup while striking at 84.4. In fact, the 26-ball 18 Bosch posted against the England Women cost the side the game and nearly a spot in the semi-final. 

In the form, the right-hander found herself, no one expected the 31-year-old to slay the mighty Aussies like a demon-possessed. But on the night, Bosch did just that.

How did that happen? Where did that aggression come from? Bosch revealed after the game that she was emboldened by a ‘nothing to lose’ mindset.

“I think if you come off a few bad games, you kind of know that it can't get any worse. So yeah, you just go at it and you still stay positive and you try and score as quickly as you can and put the team in a good position,” Bosch said after the game.

“So yeah, sometimes it comes off, sometimes it doesn't, but I think it's for me, it's more of a mindset thing and being in the right mindset and state of mind when I go out and bat.

“Coming off a couple of bad games you really realize that you don't have anything more to lose kind of thing. Obviously, you do want to do well for the team, but yeah, I think maybe that's what helped me, and maybe that's what made me kind of more relaxed. It helped me play more freely without putting too much pressure on myself.”

READ: Take a bow Anneke Bosch & South Africa, you have done the unthinkable!

In the entirety of the group stages, Bosch struck at just 62.5 against the left-arm spinners. But come the semi-final, the right-hander tore into Australia’s premier left-arm spinner, Sophie Molineux, against whom she amassed 16 off just 12 balls, hammering two boundaries.

She revealed that she’s been consciously working on her game against left-arm spin and asserted that she was pleased to see her hard work pay off.

“Yeah, I've been kind of working on it [left-arm spin], and I've been aware that it's something I've been struggling with over the last couple of months. And yeah, I think the practice sessions and the talks leading up to this game was just using smart options and better options,” she said.

“On the other wicket that's quite slow, and the outfield that's quite slow, the options that we use at home or on better wickets aren't necessarily going to work here. Yeah, I think, unfortunately, it took me a while to realize that and to go to other options. 

“I think this sweep was pretty effective today and helped me a lot. So yeah, I think it was, like I said earlier, just another mindset thing and going to smart options and having better plans against different bowlers.”

Heading into the semi-final, South Africa had never beaten Australia in the T20 World Cup in seven attempts. But they dominated the defending champions like they had their number all along.

Bosch revealed that South Africa, too, went out with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude against the Aussies. She insisted that the team’s victory over the Aussies in a game in a bilateral series in January - their first ever over Australia in WT20Is - gave them the belief that they could usurp the six-time champions.

“Yeah, look, they're obviously the best team in the world. They are an incredibly strong team. They've won so many trophies, they're really difficult to beat. So, when we found out that we're playing them in the semis, it was kind of a thing of, also, we have nothing to lose as a team because the odds are probably in their favour,” Bosch said.

“But I think coming into this game after we beat them earlier in the year for the first time ever in a T20 game, that gave us a lot of confidence and it made us realise that it is possible for us to beat them like we have done it before. We lost in the final. We've never beaten them before that. 

“So, it was a bit unseen or inexperienced territory, or we know we haven't done before. So, I think today, or yeah, meeting them in the semis - we were a bit more confident. We knew that in these conditions, it will probably be a more fair game and we will have a better chance of beating them.”

Interestingly, Bosch said that South Africa still haven’t played their ‘best cricket’. She hoped for the Proteas to save the best for the final on Sunday.

“I think we kind of said we haven't played our best game yet and probably still haven't, but hopefully we're leaving it for the finals now,” she said.

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