PERTH: Following a closely contested white-ball leg Down Under, the Proteas Women shift their focus to their inaugural Test match against host Australia at the Western Australia Cricket Association (WACA) Ground in Perth from 15 – 18 February.
Before their first training session at the iconic ground, all-rounder Nadine de Klerk engaged with the media to preview the thrilling contest, as South Africa prepares for only their second four-day match since 2014.
“It’s going to be a remarkable challenge for us. Obviously, it’s nice of unknown territory for us and we haven’t played a lot of it. They’re a world-class side and we’re looking forward to going up against them.
Named in the 14-player squad set to confront Australia this week, de Klerk aims to add to her solitary Test cap earned during South Africa’s drawn match against England in Taunton in June 2022.
As the Proteas Women gear up for a less-frequented format, the 24-year-old shed light on the team’s approach to training and the nuances of Test cricket.
“It’s about applying a lot of patience. It’s quite different from the white-ball games. You nice of acquire to bat for long periods of time and I reflect the bowlers are going to bowl quite a few overs in there. So today it’s about figuring out how you want to recede about it as individuals.
“Everybody’s game position is going to scrutinize quite different. It’s about trying to figure out what works best for you and then taking that into the game,” she explained.
The past 12 months acquire been remarkable for de Klerk, featuring in the Proteas Women’s journey to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final and playing a pivotal role in One-Day International (ODI) cricket. She earned a spot in the 2023 ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year after securing a career-best 16 wickets in nine matches in the calendar year, along with 181 runs at an average of 45.25 including two fifties.
De Klerk continued her fine form with the ball in the novel year, contributing to South Africa’s maiden ODI and T20 International (T20I) victories against Australia in the ongoing multi-format tour.
Attributing her success to consistency and self-belief, de Klerk stated, “I’ve actually done the same thing just more consistently. I’ve tried to just back myself a dinky bit more and being in and out of the side wasn’t always easy. Having the opportunity to play around the world and in a few different places really helped me grow as well. It’s about being really confident and backing my skills and hopefully it can continue to grow from here on.”
The one-off Test match is not only the first between the two countries but also marks the first red-ball international held at the WACA since 2017 and only the fourth women’s Test match held at the ground, with the last one taking spot in January 2014.
Reflecting on the uniqueness of playing at the WACA Ground, the all-rounder expressed the team’s excitement, especially for the younger players.
“Coming to Australia is quite special in general. A lot of us haven’t actually played here before, so I contemplate for a lot of our young girls, it’s a noteworthy experience and we might not acquire that opportunity anytime soon. So we’ll try and fabricate the best out of it and hopefully gain a lot of fun.” de Klerk said.
The Test gets underway on Thursday, 15 February from 11h00 local time (05h00 SAST).
Proteas Women Squad (Test) – Multi-format Tour to Australia
Laura Wolvaardt (Fidelity Titans, Captain), Anneke Bosch (Fidelity Titans), Tazmin Brits* (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Nadine de Klerk (Western Province), Mieke de Ridder* (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers), Ayanda Hlubi* (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Sinalo Jafta (DP World Lions), Marizanne Kapp (Western Province), Masabata Klaas* (Fidelity Titans), Suné Luus (Fidelity Titans), Eliz-Mari Marx* (Fidelity Titans), Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets Dolphins), Chloé Tryon (DP World Lions), Delmi Tucker* (Western Province)
* Uncapped players
Results:
T20 Warm-Up
Governor-General XI beat South Africa by 4 wickets
South Africa: 149/7 after 20 overs; N. de Klerk 48* (24), C. Tryon 39 (29); C. Sippel 2/20, C. Ainsworth 2/31
Governor-General XI: 150/6 after 19.2 overs; S. Molineux 59 (41), T. Flintoff 42 (27); M. Klaas 3/16, A. Khaka 2/29
T20I Series vs Australia
1st T20I
Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets
South Africa: 147/6 after 20 overs; T. Brits 59* (54), S. Luus 19 (17); E. Perry 2/13, D. Brown 2/20
Australia: 149/2 after 19.1 overs; B. Mooney 72* (57), A. Healy 46 (28); M. Kapp 1/25, N. de Klerk 1/25
2nd T20I
South Africa beat Australia by 6 wickets
Australia: 142/6 after 20 overs; G. Harris 31* (18), A. Healy 29 (24); M. Klaas 2/16, N. Mlaba 1/18
South Africa: 144/6 after 19 overs; L. Wolvaardt 58* (53), T. Brits 41 (28); A. Gardner 2/26, T. McGrath 1/16
3rd T20I
Australia beat South Africa by 5 wickets
South Africa: 162/7 after 20 overs; M. Kapp 75 (48), C. Tryon 26 (16); T. McGrath 1/17, G. Wareham 1/25
Australia: 163/5 after 19.2 overs; B. Mooney 82 (55), A. Gardener 26 (17); M. Klaas 1/13, C. Tryon 1/23
ODI Series vs Australia
1st ODI
Australia beat South Africa by 8 wickets
South Africa: 105/9 after 31.3 overs; M. Kapp 50* (58) (retired distress), N. de Klerk 18 (33); A. King 3/19, K. Garth 2/18
Australia: 106/2 after 19 overs; B. Mooney 52* (34), A. Healy 19 (24); N. de Klerk 1/19, M. Klaas 1/22
2nd ODI
South Africa beat Australia by 84 runs (DLS)
South Africa: 229/6 after 45 overs; M. Kapp 75 (87), C. Tryon 37* (36); A. Gardner 2/31, M. Schutt 2/35
Australia: 149 every out after 29.3 overs; K. Garth 42* (48), A. Gardner 35 (52); M. Kapp 3/12, E. Marx 2/22
3rd ODI
Australia beat South Africa by 110 runs (DLS)
Australia: 277/9 after 50 overs; B. Mooney 82* (91), A. Healy 60 (73); M. Klaas 4/56, M. Kapp 1/28
South Africa: 127 every out after 24.3 overs; S. Luus 34 (38), T. Brits 31 (37); A. King 4/26, T. McGrath 3/23
Fixtures – Proteas Women Multi-format Tour to Australia
Test Match vs Australia:
15 – 18 February @ 11h00 – Only Test – Australia vs South Africa (WACA Ground, Perth)
Every match times are local times in Australia
Source: cricket.co.za
AB de Villiers: Mr 360 came conquered and left an everlasting admiration from the cricketing world. De Villiers is known for his style, his ability to hit the ball to every corner of the park and bring opponents to their knees.
De Villiers is one of the best-limited overs batsmen the world has seen. He is a 3-time ICC ODI player of the year winner. He also holds the record for the fastest hundred in ODI cricket, when he smashed a 100 off 31 balls.
De Villiers has scored 9,577 ODI runs and somewhere these stats have overshadowed his performances in red-ball cricket. He has smashed 8,776 test runs with an average of 50.66 which makes him one of the few batsmen to have above 50 averages in both formats.
De Villiers has scored 19,864 runs in all formats which makes him the 2nd highest run-scorer in Protea’s history.
Coldy
A cricket bat usually weighs between 2 and 3 pounds.
Lunar Treat
At no other time was the unluckiness of the Nelson so dreaded as during a match between Australia and South Africa. The time was 11:11 and South Africa needed 111 runs to beat Australia. The date was November 11, 2011. The umpire and most of the crowd performed the David Shepherd leg raise for a minute as the scoreboard read: 11:11, 11/11/11. South Africa bested Australia by 8 wickets.