NEWS
Follow UsSouth Africa have never won an ICC World Cup title in senior cricket, be it Men’s cricket or Women's cricket. They did win the inaugural edition of the ICC Knockout tournament in 1998, but it was not a World Cup.
They had not even made it to the final of the World Cup for many decades, but that drought was ended by the Women when they reached the summit clash of the 2023 edition of the T20 World Cup at home last year. The Men followed and made it to the 2024 T20 World Cup final.
The South Africa Women have now made it to the final in consecutive years and are aiming to go the distance against another team that has not won the T20 World Cup–New Zealand.
Chloe Tryon, one of the most experienced members of the South African unit, feels that come Sunday, the Proteas have nothing to lose.
“We feel like we have nothing to lose. We didn't come into the tournament, being nervous at the fact that we had played a final and there was a big expectation on us to get to another final. I just feel like we narrowed it down and just focused on every single game that was in front of us,” she said in the pre-match press conference in Dubai on October 19 (Saturday).
The Women from the rainbow nation are getting inspiration from the country's Men's rugby team, the Springboks, who in 2023 defended their title that they won in 2019. Talking about rugby skipper Siya Kolisi’s love for women’s sports teams, Tryon said that the team is inspired by the messages sent by the rugby legend.
“He's always supporting us. He's always sending us good messages. I always watch rugby as well. Funny story, I was watching it last year with Suzie Bates as well when we were in Australia. The character that they show is something we would love to do. And, we want to unite the country,” the 30-year-old narrated the anecdote.
When it comes to historical anecdotes, the biggest one for this team from the Cape of Good Hope has been losing the final at home. How they've come back from that to get into another final and how they are hoping to turn it 360 degrees around sounds similar to the Indian story of Rohit Sharma’s Men who lost the ODI World Cup final in 2023 but went on to win the T20 World Cup just six months later.
Tryon explained what transpired in the months after the T20WC heartbreak made the team so strong that they've ended up making the final of the tournament yet again.
“Playing that final I think we were in two minds, especially batting against Australia. We kind of put ourselves behind the nine ball. You're trying to catch up to a team that's always on top of their game.”
But the all-rounder was quick to point out the lessons learnt. “You have to be playing at 200%. So, I think just staying calm in those moments. I always feel like the team that stays calm the longest will win the game.”
Also Read: For Suzie Bates, it’s all been ‘building up to this moment'
According to Tryon, the defeat in the final was a character-building exercise as much as anything, that ended up making the entire group stronger in every way.
“It was a tough pill to swallow. We had to go back and reflect on how we wanted to progress and how we wanted to get back into the final. A lot of individuals wanted to work on their games. Coming into this World Cup we just wanted to be nice and calm. I feel like we've grown a lot as a unit and as individuals and knowing our roles.”
Laura Wolvaardt has grown as an individual after getting the captaincy and Tryon did not have enough words to convey that growth, saying that her 25-year-old leader has been 'phenomenal'.
“I think she's more clear on how she wants to do things. She's got backing from senior players, which is good. She's always coming to us and asking for advice, but she's very clear in the way she wants to do things. It hasn't slowed her down with making runs,” said the Durban-born about Wolvwaardt, who is the leading run-scorer of the tournament with 190 runs in her kitty.
Much like South Africa, their opponents have a lot to play for too. Tryon readily accepted that the White Ferns are amongst the most resilient units in this World Cup and it would be a tough encounter on Sunday.
“A lot of fight, a lot of character. I think if you look at how they've played this whole tournament, they have shown resilience.”
New Zealand spinners have been brilliant with Eden Carson and Melie Kerr taking 20 wickets between them. Tackling them is going to be tough, but South Africa have a plan ready already.
“Just kind of stay busy as much as we can. I think the way we approach the semi-final against Australia is just we're trying to keep busy, we're trying to find ways to score runs, so just making sure we don't bog ourselves down and you know, yeah, I think we can do that,” said Tryon.
One thing that keeps the South Africans going and motivated to give their 200 per cent in the final on Sunday is the wish to see the country’s flag flying high in Dubai.
“We want to unite people, we want to unite South Africans from all different cultures. We're a very diverse, colourful nation. We just want to make them proud. We'll be hoping to fly that South African flag high,” Tryon signed off.
If you’ve not downloaded the Cricket.com app yet, you’re missing out on our content — big time. Download the App here
