Johannesburg – Cricket SA (CSA) have announced the 14-woman Proteas squad that will take part in the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifying tournament from February 7 to 21 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The tournament will take place in four venues with the teams that finish in the top four of the Super Six stage joining defending champions Australia, hosts England, New Zealand and West Indies in the ICC 2017 Women’s World Cup from 26 June to 23 July in the United Kingdom.
The same top four will also join the above mentioned in the next round of the ICC Women’s Championship. South Africa will lead Group B which includes Pakistan, Bangladesh, Scotland and Papua New Guinea, while Group A comprises India, Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand.
Teams will play four matches each in round one, with the top three from each group progressing to the Super Six stage. Hilton Moreeng, Proteas coach, believes that he has the squad to get his side over the line and straight into the World Cup.
"I’m happy to report that we have a full-strength team going into the World Cup Qualifiers,” he said. “We have the right balance in the side and a really nice mix of youth and experience.
“I think that the recent tour to Bangladesh did wonders for the team’s confidence especially with our skills preparation on sub-continent conditions. The series really helped us get back into match mode and fine-tune some of the areas we were not completely satisfied with last year. This team is definitely our best chance at earning a place in the big tournament later this year and we’re all really keen to get to Sri Lanka and do what needs to be done.”
Proteas World Cup Qualifiers squad:
Dane Van Niekerk (captain, Eastern Province), Trisha Chetty (wicketkeeper, Gauteng), Moseline Daniels (Boland), Mignon du Preez (Northerns), Yolani Fourie (Gauteng), Lara Goodall (Western Province), Shabnim Ismail (Gauteng), Marizanne Kapp (Eastern Province), Ayabonga Khaka (Border), Lizelle Lee (North West), Matshipi Letsoalo (Northerns), Sune Luus (Northerns), Chloe Tryon (KwaZulu-Natal Coastal) and Laura Wolvaardt (Western Province).
First round fixtures:
Tuesday, February 7 – South Africa v Pakistan,
Wednesday, February 8 – Scotland v South Africa
Saturday, February 11 – South Africa v Bangladesh,
Monday, February 13 – South Africa v Papua New Guinea