South Africa coach Dillon du Preez: After 2023 final miss, we are in it to take home the World Cup

The semifinal between South Africa and Australia will be a rematch of the 2023 final, where the latter got one over the host.

DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA - AUGUST 29: Dillon du Preez, Proteas Women interim head coach during the South Africa national women's cricket team camp media open day at Hollywoodbets Kingsmead Stadium on August 29, 2024 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Darren Stewart/Gallo Images) | Photo Credit: Darren Stewart

Sleep has evaded South African coach Dillon du Preez for much of the week running up to the big T20 World Cup semifinal against Australia here in Dubai on Thursday.

Understandably so. The fixture brings together the sides involved in an emotionally charged summit clash in last year’s edition of the tournament, which South Africa lost in front of a home crowd in Cape Town.

“It’s in my personality. I start worrying about things that are three weeks away and sometimes that is uncontrollable,” du Preez told Sportstar.

Memories of that final are still fresh in the 42-year-old’s mind.

“We’ve been speaking about this. Just the anthem alone. You can’t even swallow. It’s a little thing in your throat that’s making a weird noise when you speak as well… It was just awesome.

“We’ve got it in the back of our heads that we want to win this World Cup. We had a taste of it last year getting to the final and I think we are all in to try and take that cup home.”

Du Preez, a handy right-arm pacer in his day, was previously the Proteas Women’s bowling coach and assistant to Hilton Moreeng, who managed the side for 11 years.

Moreeng’s departure to the USA saw Cricket South Africa elevate du Preez to the top job on an interim basis.

Making a third straight semifinal has ticked off one box on the list for the South African.

“For me to sit in this seat where you need to make sure everything in the team is going according to the plan, is tough. It’s not something I am used to. But one good thing is I’ve got the management and my team backing me. The buy-in has been unbelievable. So it makes things a little bit better.”

Du Preez isn’t immune to pressure.

READ | Unbeaten Australia faces tough South Africa test in semifinal

“In my room, I can’t (keep calm). When I’m walking around, it’s about putting up a brave face. Pressure is there, for sure, because winning is on everyone’s mind. We came here to do just that.

South Africa fell narrowly short in the 2023 Women’s T20 World Cup final against Australia. | Photo Credit: AP

“After a game like England (where Heather Knight’s side beat South Africa by seven wickets with four balls left), a few people would have probably been awake thinking, ‘It was so close. Are we not good enough?’

“It’s a World Cup, it’s not a bilateral where it’s okay if you don’t play well. You end up on your way home. Everyone’s positive that we can still get there (to the knockouts and eventually the final) but just before you sleep, there’s a small man or woman on your shoulder convincing you otherwise.”

That loss was also when du Preez suddenly had a wave of experts crashing his messaging apps with opinions and advice.

“(Laughs) We’ve all got a lot of friends and sometimes, after a bad game, you turn on your phone and it has turned into a coaching conference and everyone knows better at home. And it’s like sometimes you just need to block them.

“Sometimes, we do get comments and you see this pressure building on players. But we should remember that we’ve got our best 11/15 here and we need to back them. If there are doubts, it’s our job to find a way to get them ready.”

South Africa, with three wins in four games, has looked good in the tournament so far. Tazmin Brits leads the run-scorers’ pile with 155 runs in four games at an average of 51.66. This features 17 fours - the most by a batter so far in the tournament. Bowlers Nonkululeko Mlaba and Marizanne Kapp have been the backbones of South Africa’s steadiness on the field. Mlaba, the left-arm spinner, is second on the wicket-takers’ tally with nine wickets to her name.

Fiery pacer Kapp has contained the batters, particularly in the PowerPlay. She has a stingy economy rate of 3.78 and has 58 dot balls in the 84 deliveries she has bowled so far in this tournament. She’s second to only Australia’s Megan Schutt in these metrics (economy: 3.27, dots: 61).

A few months ago when the Proteas toured India, Kapp bowled just two overs, that too, in the final T20I. She was returning from an injury to her back and Du Preez reveals that reigning Kapp’s urges to go full tilt were extremely challenging.

Marizanne Kapp will be key with the ball for South Africa, especially the PowerPlay. | Photo Credit: GETTY IMAGES

“Marizanne’s very difficult. She’ll miss one or two practices or one or two games and she’ll come to you and say, ‘Listen I am not feeling good. I need to bowl more.’ Sometimes you need to hold her back and keep her calm because all she wants to do is go.

“She’s playing a lot of cricket. She’s a senior player and she’s been around for a while. The moment you get into your 30s, it starts getting harder on the body. It gets harder, especially being an all-rounder.

“For her not to be on the park is almost always a bad thing for us. She’s got a presence where things will happen around her and if they don’t, she’ll make it happen. We need to manage her well to get the best out of her. We’re okay with it but sometimes she gets into the mode where she doesn’t like us anymore because we tell her to stay behind or rest.”

In last year’s final, Kapp and Shabnim Ismail took two wickets each against Australia but the side ended up 19 runs short of a historic maiden World Cup win. Du Preez believes Kapp will be key to the Proteas’ fortunes in Dubai on Thursday with the Australian hurdle appearing a step earlier.

Making its second final in a row would be a fine testament to how successfully the South African side has not just been punching above its weight and expanding its talent pool. A World Cup win can do wonders for a Protean domestic circuit that is yet to be set in stone, but Du Preez hopes that effort is unconditional.

“It’s (a solidification of the framework and tournaments) definitely in the plans and it will help if we win the World Cup. Not trying to be negative, but even if we don’t make it, that idea is something to back. SA20 started a few years ago in South Africa and they want to do the same thing for women.

“These efforts will particularly boost the provincial system as well. You can put a lot of things in place. It is something we need to consider and get right, to be honest.”