Birmingham, June 18 (IANS) South Africa’s seam-bowling all‑rounder Annerie Dercksen admitted she felt immense relief after the side beat Pakistan by two wickets to register their first win of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, adding that ending up on the right side of the result was the main thing for them.

Promoted to number three, Annerie struck 52 – her maiden T20 World Cup half‑century – to take the Proteas over the line in a chase of 127 at Edgbaston. “I said to the team I’m probably going to die 30 years before I should, because we have a knack of doing this, but the main thing is that we ended up on the right side.

“We’ve done it a couple of times in World Cups now. Credit to the team, credit to the people coming in and pulling that game through for us, because I think at one stage the odds were probably stacked against us a little. I’m just really proud of the fact that we were able to pull that through.

“It’s crucial as it’s always nice to get some momentum with a win. We’re well aware that every game now is sort of do-or-die for us. We’re very happy that we could get some momentum going into the next game (against India at Old Trafford on Sunday),” said Annerie after the game ended.

She also backed the Proteas team management’s decision to promote her to one-down, despite the move not working out in their tournament opening defeat to Australia. “It’s quite nice. I’ve been doing it for a while in ODI cricket so it hasn’t been too foreign to me.

“It’s quite nice to face the ball when you’re in the Powerplay and only have two fielders out and a hard new ball. Obviously there’s gonna be games like the last one where it doesn’t pay off, but I am fortunate that it came out on the right side here.”

Annerie’s aggressive approach against the spinners was decisive, particularly after South Africa suffered early setbacks in the chase. “I wouldn’t say it’s a concern. I’m more proud of the fact that we were able to pull it through.

“It was a tough wicket. I thought their spinners bowled exceptionally well and we probably lost a couple of wickets at crucial stages. But all in all, we’re still very confident that we’re a phenomenal batting line-up.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to play a lot of teams in the subcontinent recently, and we also had Pakistan tour South Africa, so maybe, without realising it, I got to work on my game against spin. And it was something I made a conscious effort about as well,” she added.

–IANS

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