Proteas determined to put past World Cup failures behind them

The women's cricket team are peaking at the right time ahead of the semifinals. By Keanan Hemmonsbey

- Keanan Hemmonsbey

The Proteas Women have set themselves up to make a big push for a maiden ICC Cricket World Cup title.

The team were stopped at the semifinal stage by England at the last two editions of the tournament in 2017 and 2022.

At this year's tournament, it was England again who threatened to derail the Proteas' World Cup before it even began properly.

The Lionesses lashed the Proteas with a 10-wicket victory in their opening game after bowling the side out for only 69 runs. It was a humiliating defeat, but South Africa have since bounced back, winning their next five matches on the trot and booking their spot in the semifinals.

"We were very disappointed with our performance against England," star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp said. "We felt like leading up to this World Cup, our preparation has been very good. Luckily we turned it around very quickly. That's the hard work that we've been putting in behind the scenes.

"That's the beauty of this team, where we've not been relying on one person. More people are starting to click and putting in performances. Everything feels like it's coming together."

At 35 years old, Kapp is the veteran of the side, playing in her fifth World Cup. She was at the 2009 World Cup in Australia, when the team failed to win a single match at the tournament. Now she's part of a team who would be disappointed to return home from India without the trophy.

Kapp has been solid for the Proteas so far at the tournament, averaging 40.5 and striking quickly at 101.25 in the middle order. With the ball, she's taken six wickets with a tight economy rate of 4.13 with her often unplayable away swingers.

Painful past