Cape Town - Proteas Women’s captain Sune Luus believes the key to overcoming England in their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup semi-final is to keep Nat Sciver-Brunt quiet.
Sciver-Brunt has been in prolific form throughout the last fortnight in South Africa with the powerful right-hander leading the tournament’s run-scoring charts with 176 runs at an average of 88. They have also come at a destructive strike-rate of 147.89.
She was particularly good in England’s last match against Pakistan where Sciver-Brunt struck 81 not out to power her team to a Women’s T20 World Cup record of 213/5.
“Yeah, she's been in great form and I think England's batting performance really relied on her for the bulk of the runs,” Luus said.
“So, I think for us it's just about trying to keep her quiet, if not strike early, try to get her off strike and let the other batters try and do the bulk of the runs.”
It is, however, not just Sciver-Brunt that the Proteas need to contain at Newlands. Danni Wyatt, who struck a century against the Proteas’ in last year’s 50-overs World Cup semi-final in Christchurch, Sophia Dunkley, captain Heather Knight and wicket-keeper Amy Jones are all explosive players.
Equally, England’s bowling unit has been impressive, especially the spin duo of Sophie Ecclestone and Sarah Glenn. The pair have dominated on the slow coastal surfaces and will look to tie the Proteas’ batters into all sorts of knots.
“They're obviously top of the rankings at the moment, and they've been doing a great job for England,” Luus said.
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“But I think if you can take the spinners out of the game very early, they'll probably be on the back foot in terms of who they go to, so I think obviously you need to try and not get, I think, give them too much or give them too many wickets, and think and try and just consolidate them and try to get six, seven an over from there and try and take the game away.”
There is no hiding from the fact that Friday’s semi-final is arguably the biggest day in the Proteas women’s history in South Africa. Progression to a first-ever T20 World Cup final could have a colossal impact on the game moving forward.
Luus, though, has preferred to remove the emotion and focus purely on the 40 overs that lay ahead.
“I think tomorrow (Friday) is a big game, but we're going to treat it as any other game. I think we just need to stay focused on what we need to do, focus on the basics, do the simple things right, and then you can only control what you can. And then we can try to give ourselves the best chance,” she said.
IOL Sport