South Africa wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta is looking forward to a fresh start after their heavy defeat to England in Guwahati, where the team was bowled out for just 69. The Proteas have now moved to Indore to face New Zealand on Monday, nearly a year after the two teams clashed in the 2024 T20 World Cup final in Dubai. New Zealand have already played a match in Indore during this World Cup.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔, 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏. 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕, 𝒘𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅,” 𝑱𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒂 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅. “𝑳𝒂𝒖𝒓𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒇𝒇 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒙𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆.”
Jafta welcomed the change of venue, describing Indore as a fresh perspective after leaving Guwahati behind. She highlighted the importance of staying focused and approaching each ball individually rather than dwelling on past mistakes.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒖𝒔. 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝑰𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕, 𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒍𝒆 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒕. 𝑫𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆. 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆.”
Focus on Discipline and Execution Against New Zealand
Admitting that South Africa had erred in their approach against England, Jafta emphasized that the team will not dwell on the collapse. Instead, they are focusing on the upcoming challenge against New Zealand, a team they have not faced in ODIs since October 2023.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒓𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅. 𝑾𝒆 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒏 𝒊𝒕. 𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚,” 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒅.
Jafta stressed the importance of discipline and execution, pointing out the experience and talent in New Zealand’s lineup, including Amelia Kerr, Suzie Bates, and Sophie Devine. She also noted the potential threats from younger players like Georgia Plimmer, Maddy Green, and Izzy Gaze.
Having already played in subcontinental conditions during tours in Pakistan and a tri-series in Colombo, South Africa hopes to leverage their experience. Jafta underlined that tactical awareness and intensity will be key to bouncing back in Indore.
“𝑾𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔—𝒊𝒕’𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒏𝒆𝒘. 𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒕, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒗𝒆 𝒈𝒐𝒕 𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒁𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔. 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅, ‘𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒆𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒅. 𝑻𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.’ 𝑨 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒖𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒘’𝒔 𝒈𝒂𝒎𝒆.”
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