Proteas Women aim for perfection ahead of facing Sri Lanka in ICC Women's World Cup

The Proteas women have won three consecutive matches in the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, having beaten New Zealand, hosts India and recently Bangladesh as they recovered impressively from the embarrassing loss to England in the first match of the tournament.

Though coach Mandla Mashimbyi’s side has been successful, there are still quite a number of concerns about their performances.

Too often, the team unnecessarily complicate matters making what should be easy games to win into close encounters.

In the match against Bangladesh earlier this week, South Africa had them 78/5 in the 23rd over, but allowed them back into the game as the subcontinent team ended up setting 233 runs as a target.

Chloe Tryon’s 60-odd was key to the Proteas' three-wicket victory, but the 31-year-old knows that they need to be a lot more ruthless for the remainder of the tournament.

“I think we were really good in the first 22 overs. We were really tight, and I think we started looking for things. We were just searching a lot more for wickets instead of just keeping it nice and tight and creating pressure,” Tryon said.  

“So, we let it go a little bit, which was unfortunate and something we can reflect on and hopefully rectify in the next game. They took that away and just created really good partnerships and frustrated us a lot. That's just what we learned.”

The experienced all-rounder believes that these are mistakes that they can rectify going into the next fixture against Sri Lanka at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Friday.

“It's something we can change. We can go back to the drawing board. We've got a big game against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and we know what they bring. So it's just about making sure that we just get a little bit more discipline,” said Tryon.

“We've got a couple of days before the big game against Sri Lanka. So, (it’s now about) making sure that we stick to the plan and hopefully it comes off.”

Though there have been holes in South Africa’s performances thus far, no one can take away their ability to get the job done, a feat that often separates winning teams from losing teams.

Yes, neither of their victories was pretty nor flawless. However, they still got over the line and that in itself deserves to be applauded.

“It’s nice to still find ways to get over the line. I know it's been two tight games, but we're still finding ways to get over the line, which is really exciting for this team,” said Tryon.

“We’re still a long way in the competition, so we haven't played our perfect game yet. But, we're slowly getting there.”

South Africa will play Sri Lanka in Colombo on Friday and will be looking to secure another two points to improve their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.