Luus praises bowlers, contribution of Maharaj as Proteas women shine against India
· Citizen
The Proteas women’s team are one win away from securing the five-match T20 series against India after dominating the first two matches of the series, both in Durban.
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The Proteas won by six and eight wickets respectively on Friday and Sunday and are next in action on Wednesday at the Wanderers. The fourth match is also in Joburg with the fifth match next week in Benoni.
In both matches so far, the South Africans have kept the experienced Indian batting lineup in check, restricting them to scores of 157 and 147. The home side have then knocked off the runs quite comfortably with Laura Wolvaardt, Suné Luus, Tazmin Britz, Annerie Dercksen and Chloe Tryon all making significant contributions.
‘Phenomenal’
Luus, who scored 57 in the second T20 match on Sunday, said her team’s bowlers had been brilliant up to now.
“Our bowlers have been phenomenal the last few games. They’ve stuck to the plans and kept things simple.
“We know how powerful the Indian batters can be, easily capable of scoring 180-plus every time. But we used the slower ball well in the conditions and then backed it up with good batting.
“But it’s really been the bowlers who’ve done a good job keeping their batters quiet.”
Ayabonga Khaka, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nonkululeko Mlaba and Chloe Tryon have all impressed with the ball in the series so far.
Maharaj in camp
Luus said having Proteas men’s spinner Keshav Maharaj involved in the first two matches had been significant.
“It’s been awesome to work with him,” said Luus, who has opened the batting alongside Wolvaardt during the series and bowled a bit of off-spin.
“Sometimes a coach can be repetitive, but coming from the number one bowler in world … we absorbed everything he was saying in the last couple of days. It was phenomenal; just his experience and as a Durban boy, knowing the conditions so well. It was a different perspective and a different voice. It definitely worked in our favour.”
Luus said she was enjoying opening the batting and was generally pleased with her own form.
“I’m still new to it, but it’s a lot of fun. And having Laura there, with all her experience, it doesn’t get better than that.
“I’ve been hitting the ball well all season. It’s just been a bit frustrating to not get a big score, but it’s awesome to contribute in every game I’ve been a part of.”
Looking ahead to Wednesday’s match, Luus said: “It’s a big game, we can secure the series with a win.”