Bristol, June 24 (IANS) A semifinal qualification-seeking South Africa will aim for a comprehensive victory to boost their net run-rate when they face an already eliminated Netherlands in a Group A match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at the County Ground in Bristol on Thursday.

On the field, the Proteas find themselves in a complex race to the semifinals. Despite bouncing back from an opening 65-run loss against Australia by scraping past Pakistan and thrashing India by six wickets — propelled by Marizanne Kapp’s sensational 45-ball 81 not out — Laura Wolvaardt’s side sits third in the group with four points, which is level with India, due to an inferior net run-rate of -0.546.

They need a massive, margin-heavy victory against the winless Dutch team to keep themselves in contention for the semi-finals. The clash will take place under challenging weather conditions as a severe heatwave sweeps through Bristol.

The soaring temperatures had already disrupted attendance at Sri Lanka-Ireland and New Zealand-Scotland fixtures on Tuesday. Due to the scorching weather, school kids’ attendance at the games was cancelled, and shortened opening flag ceremonies were held out of safety concerns for minors.

As a result, it was decided to use two smaller flags and only the over-18s on the ICC emblem for the two aforementioned fixtures. It is understood that player safety and management of the game itself due to extreme heat have been assessed and will continue to be assessed by the joint work between the safety officer, match officials, medical teams, and event delivery team.

When: Thursday, June 25, 11:00 PM IST

Where: The County Ground, Bristol

Where to watch: The match will be broadcast on Star Sports channels, with JioHotstar live-streaming the game on their app and website.

Squads:

Netherlands: Babette de Leede (c), Caroline de Lange, Frédérique Overdijk, Hannah Landheer, Heather Siegers, Iris Zwilling, Isabel van der Woning, Lara Leemhuis, Myrthe van den Raad, Phebe Molkenboer, Robine Rijke, Rosalie Lawrence, Sanya Khurana, Silver Siegers, and Sterre Kalis

South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Sune Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Kayla Reyneke, Tumi Sekhukhune, Chloe Tryon, and Dane van Niekerk

–IANS

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