Indore, Oct 7 (IANS) South Africa centurion Tazmin Brits admitted the side’s loss in Women’s World Cup opener ‘didn’t sit well’, fuelling the teams winning comeback against New Zealand at the Holkar Stadium.

South Africa batting collapse that cost them in their first-up game at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup, but the Proteas had key performances across both major disciplines against the White Ferns, securing six-wicket win on Monday.

Brits was named Player of the Match, smashing 101 from 89 balls as South Africa needed just 40.5 overs to complete their run chase after New Zealand set a target of 232 for the win.

It’s her fifth ton this calender year. She took the fewest (41) innings to hit seven centuries in the format, surpassing Australia veteran Meg Lanning.

Brits detailed to media post-game what adjustments she has made amid her consistent uptick in production.

“Nothing very different. I’ve just tried to expand my shot selection a bit more, and I’ve been working very hard on that,” she said.

Brits confirmed her team used the loss to England as fuel, to full effect, against New Zealand.

“(The loss) didn’t sit well with me,” she continued. I didn’t even want to eat that night, and I overthought the process completely. But yeah, we put that in the past as quick as possible, and we said, we’ve got to move on to the next game.”

South Africa’s batting unit held up their end of the bargain, but their bowling brigade also played a role, restricting New Zealand for less than what they thought felt like par on the Indore pitch.

“I think it was a batting wicket. So, I think they were actually a bit short of runs. I definitely think maybe a 280 would have worked. I think it’s a good wicket. I think in the beginning, it was a bit more tacky, but I think our bowlers executed very, very well. I think they bowled great line and lengths and they put the pressure on,” Brits added.

Brooke Halliday, who scored 45 runs from 37 balls with six boundaries and bowled three overs for the New Zealand, thought her side misfired as a bowling unit.

“I think we probably overpitched a little bit, which made it a little bit easy for the South Africans to actually get in – and once you get in, I found it actually got a lot easier,” she told media post-game.

“It’s just those first 10-20 balls for a new batter is actually key. If we can’t execute our length and our line, it does help them. We’ll review today’s game and look into the next one against Bangladesh. The perks of the quick turnaround means that we can’t dwell on today too much.

“But I guess the biggest thing for us is that two games down, but there are still five games to go. If we win the next five, we’re very good chance of making that semi-final. It’s not a great start, but it’s a long tournament to go.”

–IANS

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