Proteas Women's batting coach, Baakier Abrahams, has praised the team’s mentality towards their craft with the bat following a successful start to the one-day international (ODI) series against Pakistan and ahead of the third encounter taking place on Monday in Lahore.
The final ODI will get underway at 15h30 local time (12h30 SAST) from the Gaddafi Stadium and will be broadcast live on SuperSport Cricket (Ch. 212).
The Proteas Women head into the series finale on the back of two successful outings against the hosts, recording an eight-wicket victory in the opening match before clinching the three-match battle with a game to spare via a 25-run Duckworth-Lewis-Stern triumph. Both wins were highlighted by outstanding batting performances, including four centuries from Tazmin Brits (2), captain Laura Wolvaardt and Marizanne Kapp.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, Abrahams acknowledged the batters’ display at the crease, pointing out the mindset and work ethic the players have showcased in the build-up to the tour and the upcoming ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025.
"That's one thing you've got to commend the ladies about in terms of just their growth mindset and their hunger to want to get better, coupled with the skill development.
"All the performances you're seeing from all the batters is due to the hard work and dedication they've put into their craft and their skill. So long may it continue in terms of their performances and in terms of putting the team into a strong position to win games of cricket,” he added.
Due to the leading performances of the top order, the rest of the batting line-up has had limited time at the crease. Despite that, Abrahams expressed no concern about their readiness and confidence heading into future matches.
"We've also looked at trying to create opportunities for everyone within the space to be able to get an opportunity. Within our line-up, we've got a good host of batters that can go on and do some really special things in terms of hundreds.
"We're pretty confident whichever sort of batting line-up we put out, the skills that they've developed over the last 15 months will stand us in good stead,” Abrahams continued.
When asked about the future of batting in women’s ODI cricket following recent high-scoring matches globally, including Saturday’s match between Australia and India, Abrahams said the team is eager to continue raising the bar.
"Obviously from our side, from a batting unit point of view, we're trying to push the boat out as far as we can. We're also trying to lead the standards in terms of batting and shaping women's cricket.
"And I think seeing that game unfold yesterday is good for the women's game. It just shows it's a nice little something for us to work towards. I think we're tracking in the right direction from our own batting unit and how we want to go about our business.”
With much of the spotlight on the centurions, Abrahams highlighted the strength and depth across the batting order, insisting that others are equally capable of match-defining contributions.
"When the game situation and opportunity present themselves, we do have the skill set of players that are able to do it."
"Even if you go down all the way to Nadine de Klerk, Chloe Tryon, they can get hundreds."
"In terms of impact throughout the line-up, we're very confident in terms of the impact and the volume of runs that they can contribute to the team."
"That all bodes well in terms of competition within the group. That's where we want it to be."
