Momentum Proteas eager to impress against Pakistan

South Africa overcame Bangladesh by 32 runs in Dunedin last Friday in a tightly-fought victory in their opening match of the tournament, with key performances from fast bowler Ayabonga Khaka (4/ 32) as well top-scorers, Marizanne Kapp (42) and Laura Wolvaardt (41).

Looking back at the previous encounter, Tryon believes there’s room for improvement.

“It (the performance) was under-par,” she began. “We discussed it thoroughly that we weren’t happy with our batting performance. We didn’t take enough responsibility and we felt we needed partnerships, which we didn’t do enough of.

“We definitely worked on that after having those conversations as we went into net sessions and making sure we are finding ways, despite looking at the wicket which was a bit slow, we still have to find a way and try and make 270 plus on these wickets.

“A lot of pointers to take out of the last game and we worked on that at training,” she added.

Ahead of the clash against Pakistan, a side the Proteas Women white-washed in a three-match series in January last year, Tryon states that the team won’t underestimate their opponents and are focused on playing their best cricket under the lights in Mount Manganui.

Overall, in One-Day International (ODI) cricket, South Africa enjoy a positive record against the subcontinent outfit, claiming 18 wins in their previous 24 encounters, while one game ended in a tie and another with no result.

“We have played enough cricket against them to know what we are up against. They are really a good squad, and we don’t want to take any team here for granted so we have to make sure that we are playing our best cricket tomorrow and make sure if we tick our boxes, we can end up on top.

“They do have players that can take the game away from us, so we just have to make sure we do the right things,” Tryon said.

After a troublesome period in her career due to injuries over the last few years, the all-rounder marked her return to form for the national side with impressive outings in this year’s four-match ODI series against the West Indies and followed it up with notable contributions in the opening game against Bangladesh.

On her come back, Tryon touched on the work that has gone in behind the scenes to be ready for the tournament.

“Yeah, it has been a bit of a struggle these last couple of years,” the 28-year old continued. “A little bit of an up and down with injuries, lots of frustrations on my side regarding that but I made sure that once I recovered from my last injury, I worked really hard.

“I worked on my skill a lot. I knew the World Cup was around the corner, so I sacrificed a lot of time back home; making sure I was doing the right things and I feel like it has really been paying off.

“I worked really hard building up to this World Cup, so I am hoping to score more runs, take more wickets but so far I am happy with how I am going,” Tryon added.

After a lengthy gap between the match against Bangladesh and tomorrow’s game, South Africa will then take on England two days after facing Pakistan at the same venue, before a mouth-watering match-up against hosts New Zealand in Hamilton on Thursday, 17 March.