Proteas Women’s assistant coach Thandi Tshabalala wants his team to “go back to basics”, especially in terms of bowling and playing spin in the second T20I against Bangladesh in Kimberley on Wednesday.
Tshabalala, who played T20’s for the Proteas Men’s team, believes this will allow the home side to regain the advantage after their 13-run loss in the opening match in Benoni.
“We didn’t hit our straps. We had a great Powerplay, but after that a didn’t keep the momentum on our side and we let them back into the game and after once they were back in the game I felt they wanted it more than us,” Tshabalala said.
“I feel we need to go back to basics. We’ve had chats in the changeroom and are looking to improve and implement everything we spoke about.”
Experience in the bowling attack
The Proteas have the experienced Nonkululeko Mlaba opening the bowling, but “Lefty” is backed up by the young Nondumiso Shangase and Delmi Tucker.
Shangase, in particular, struggled conceding 13 runs in one over.
“I don’t think we bowled well on the day. I feel like there were too many full tosses. We didn’t create enough pressure. If you look at the boundaries they scored against us, they didn’t have to work too hard for them,” said Tucker.
“A bigger performance is expected from our spinners. We have two young spinners making their way in international cricket.
“They need to learn quickly in terms of field placing, closing an over, and more importantly they need to take their opportunities at this level so management can have more confidence in them because they do have a major role to play in the future.”
But Tshabalala feels the batters also need to improve their game against the Bangladeshi spinners if the Proteas are to level the series at the Diamond Oval.
“We have to be more clear in our strategy, in terms of how we are going to play, because we will encounter different wickets all the time,” he said.
“This will give us confidence in terms of playing spin because we don’t want to get caught out in terms of what you want to do against spin.
“It is important for each batter that they are very clear in what they want to do. And if it’s not working, find a Plan B, because T20 cricket doesn’t give you three or four overs to work it out.
“I think we need to hit the sweepers a lot more, because if you get into a boundary mode, that’s when you get yourself into trouble against spin.”