Proteas Women eye clinical series sweep against Pakistan to signal new era
Pakistan Tour of South Africa
The Proteas Women have already secured the series, but they aren't satisfied yet. Nadine de Klerk and the squad are hunting a clinical 3-0 sweep against Pakistan in Benoni on Monday night to prove they are a force to be reckoned with ahead of the next World Cup. Photo: AFP
Image: AFP
The Proteas Women are determined to make a habit of not only winning bilateral series but also completing series sweeps ahead of major ICC events, starting with the ongoing T20 series against Pakistan Women.
South Africa currently lead the three-match T20I series 2-0, having won the opening two matches in Potchefstroom and Benoni last week. In the build-up to the previous two T20 World Cups, the Proteas had a poor record in bilateral series — to such an extent that they were more dark horses with long odds to reach those final.
However, South Africa did so in both tournaments, although they would eventually lose to Australia and New Zealand in 2023 and 2024, respectively. This year, with the 2026 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup looming, the Proteas are determined to rewrite the script, starting with a series sweep against Pakistan.
“I think that's something we spoke about a lot over the last couple of months,” Nadine de Klerk said on Sunday, ahead of the match.
"We didn’t have the best bilateral series before rocking up at World Cups and we shocked the whole world, really. But we knew we were much better than that and capable of winning series as well.
“Winning that Ireland series (in December), coming here and dominating as well — being under pressure in that first game and having someone like Kayla (Reyneke) win it on debut — just shows the depth of the squad is growing.
"We are finding ways to win, which is great. Although we're 2-0 up, we still want to start clean sweeping teams and really dominate world cricket.”
De Klerk missed the first game of the series while resting, after winning the Women’s Premier League in India with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) earlier this month. During the second T20I, she had enjoyed easy contributions in a comfortable six wicket victory.
The 26-year-old finished with figures of 2-0-17-0, while also scoring four runs not out as the Proteas Women chased down a paltry 100 runs to secure the series.
“It is lovely to get the win, but you have to put that behind you and focus on the next adventure, which also started not too badly,” De Klerk added. “India is probably the best place in the world to play cricket, especially for RCB where you get thousands of people chanting, but we'll take two wins out of the first two games here.”
The third and final T20I clash against Pakistan on Monday is scheduled to start at 6pm in Benoni.