Khaka knows Proteas need team effort to challenge for T20 World Cup

The Proteas women’s quest to claim their maiden title in the ninth edition of the ICC T20 Women’s World Cup begins on Friday against West Indies.

Led by captain Laura Wolvaardt, the Proteas' opening fixture takes place at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (12pm SA time).

Though preparations for last year’s beaten finalists were not ideal, with a defeat to India by 28 runs in their final warm-up on Tuesday, seamer Ayabonga Khaka’s form will be encouraging, having picked up a five-wicket hall.

“I was trying my best to be simple as much as I can, but trying things too to be out of my comfort zone. It worked well for me,” Khaka said.

“I’ll take what I can take out of this game and see what I can work on as well.”

With the tournament taking place in the Middle East, the conditions will be new to coach Dillon du Preez’s technical team and the players. The unsuccessful 145-run chase on Tuesday brought with it questions about the team’s batting prowess.

“It was not the wicket we are used to,” Khaka reflected. “It was a bit starch-low. It [the ball] was not coming to the bat.

“I don’t think we assessed that well. I think going forward we need to assess and see how we can go about our game plans.”

Khaka said the match was an example that one player's impressive display is not enough and it will take a team effort for the Proteas to bring long-awaited cricketing glory to South Africa.

“We are not happy. As bowlers, we need to fix some things. When we play the game, we will work on what we need to do.”

West Indies will provide a stiff opener on Friday, followed by tough assignments against England on Monday and Scotland on Wednesday.

The tournament kicked off on Thursday, when Bangladesh saw off Scotland by 16 runs before Pakistan overcame Sri Lanka by 31 runs.

Defending champions Australia begin the defence of their title against Sri Lanka on Saturday.

The tournament will be broadcast on SuperSport Cricket (DStv channel 212).