Annerie Dercksen one of the few shining lights for Proteas Women on dim New Zealand tour

The Proteas Women’s team would have arrived in New Zealand with great hopes of avenging their defeat to the White Ferns in the last Women’s T20 World Cup final.

With that objective now rendered obsolete after surrendering the five-match series in Wellington over the weekend, they would be well advised to not lose focus of the immediate future, which is of course the upcoming T20 Women’s World Cup in the UK.

Laura Wolvaardt’s team have only six matches, including Wednesday’s fifth and final clash against their hosts in Christchurch, ahead of the tournament opener against Australia in Manchester on June 13.

The clash at Hagley Oval will, therefore, by no means be regarded as a dead-rubber contest. 

“Every game you get to play for your country is a massive occasion and we definitely won't be taking it lightly,” said all-rounder Annerie Dercksen.

“Obviously, it's a World Cup year, T20, so we'll definitely be looking at that and that's always going to be the bigger picture that we'll be working towards. I also think 4-1 sounds a lot worse than 3-2, so yeah, there's definitely still a lot on the line for us and not a game that we're just going to take lightly because the series is lost.”

Dercksen is part of a crop of young players Proteas coach Mandla Mashimbyi has been trialling on this tour of New Zealand. In the absence of the experienced Dane van Niekerk, who was ruled out of the tour due to injury, Mashimbyi has utilised Dercksen at No 4 instead of her regular “finisher” position.

Initially, it took some time for the current ICC Emerging Player of the Year, to adapt to her new role, but the 24-year-old showed off her potential at the Cake Tin by blasting an unbeaten 55 from 32 balls. 

It was Dercksen’s maiden T20I half-century.

Derksen feels her development has been accelerated on this tour by coming up against one of the world’s premier allrounders in Sophie Devine. The veteran Kiwi has been the difference between the two sides with 156 runs at an average of 52 and seven wickets at 11.62.

“I think she’s (Devine) someone that I've really looked up to my entire life,” Dercksen said.

“So, getting to play against is absolutely awesome and very not awesome in the same sentence. We obviously know that she can hit a long ball and she's very destructive with the bat when she gets herself in.”

Derckesen’s admiration goes further as she admitted that her playing number “77” is because of Devine.

“It is indeed,” the Proteas allrounder said.

“I thought, like, it's a long story, but I couldn't get the number I wanted and then I sort of looked around World Cricket and I was like, Devine and Alyssa Healy are good strikers of the ball and people I look up to. 

“I don't know if I want to tell her that, but she's a big part of the reason why.”