Proteas women skipper Dane van Niekerk doesn’t shy away when asked about her team’s chances of lifting the ICC Women’s World T20 trophy.
“What type of captain would I be if I say no,” Niekerk told the Saturday Star this week from her hotel in the West Indies.
“If you are competing in a World Cup and don’t believe that you can go all the way and win the tournament, then you shouldn’t be here. We’re very capable of winning the tournament.”
India and New Zealand opened the Women’s World T20 in Guyana last night.
Van Niekerk’s side begin their challenge in the first ever standalone ICC Women’s T20 on Tuesday morning (SA time) against Sri Lanka.
They are in group A and will come up against the likes of West Indies, England, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
While winning a World Cup has eluded the men’s national cricket team, Van Niekerk is keen to stress that it is unfair to make comparisons between the men’s and women’s team.
“We’ve been asked this question a couple of times,” said van Niekerk.
“We aren’t the men. We support them 100%, but we aren’t the men. We want to create our own brand. We need to get to semi-finals more often for people to have that opinion about us. This time get we need to get to the finals and not just make it as far as the semi-finals,” she said.
The 25-year-old captain believes the Proteas have perfect preparation ahead of the tournament and are now ready to deliver.
“We were lucky enough to spend a month prior to this World Cup in Barbados and Trinidad, so we got a bit of a sneak peek of the conditions.
“We played really well. We were down and out in the T20 series but came back to win the last two to level the series, which was brilliant and gave us plenty of confidence.
“So that was the best preparation we could ask for,” she said.
The Proteas women, under the stewardship of Hilton Moreeng, played four warm-up games in the build-up to the World Cup, playing two unofficial games against England and India, and two official warm-up games against Pakistan and Australia. While Van Niekerk’s troops may have lost both of their official warm-up games, she insists there is no reason to panic.
“Our batting is a bit of a concern at the moment.
“We haven’t gone past a hundred in both games, so it is a bit worrying, but we want to peak at the right time.”
The team chemistry has also been great ahead of the tournament.
“The belief is there. Everyone is excited to take to the field in the first game and play a team like Sri Lanka.”
Her players won’t be underestimating any of the teams in the T20 tournament.
“Every single team we’re going to take on is a threat. Each team, on their day, can be very destructive,” she said.
They are looking forward to playing in the Caribbean next month.
“It’s a beautiful place to play cricket. It’s challenging as the climate is different to what we used to but we are very blessed to be here and to experience these conditions,” she said.