‘Honestly, I really don’t know’: star bowler Mlaba on why Proteas freeze in finals

Nonkululeko Mlaba has slept on it for a few nights now, but she still can’t put a finger on it. 

South Africa suffered heartbreak when they lost to New Zealand in the T20 World Cup final on Sunday to prolong the country’s long wait for a major trophy and Mlaba still cannot believe it. 

This was South Africa’s second successive World Cup final heartbreak as they lost to Australia in Cape Town last year in the first appearance at that stage of the tournament for any senior cricket team, men or women. 

“Honestly, I really don’t know. We go to the tournament telling ourselves that we are in it to win it, but out of the blue something happens and even today we don’t know what it is,” said Mlaba, who was named with teammates Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup team of the tournament. 

This year, there was another heartbreak for South African cricket when the men’s side were left “gutted” after their hopes of delivering a first World Cup crown were dashed by India in Barbados, in the men side's first global final after a long wait. 

It has been a few days since the heartbreaking loss that deflated the expectant nation and Mlaba, who ended the tournament as the second-highest wicket taker with 12 scalps to her name after Melie Keer of New Zealand with 15, is still in disbelief. 

“I was nervous before the semifinal against Australia, but that was not the case against New Zealand and maybe that’s the reason we didn’t play to win in the final because I was not that nervous,” Mlaba said. 

“Even now I am still asking myself how did we lose the final. But the most important thing is to focus on the positives rather than negatives. I did well for myself and for the team and I feel like we did really amazing even if we didn’t bring the trophy home.

“Maybe next year’s tournament will be our turn.” 

Director of coaching at Cricket South Africa (CSA) Enoch Nkwe admitted to the disappointment of losing in the final, but said there were many lessons from the humbling experience. 

“To be honest, over the last 18 months, there have been lots of positives where we did things that were never done before. We have gone into events with the favourite tag and the fact we have been able to get over that hurdle of getting into the final means there is a strong sense of belief. 

“There will be a level of confidence to say, we have done it before and now it is about how do we do the basics well when we reach the final no matter what we are thrown at in terms of individuals or a team. 

“We have had a taste of finals but it is about how we get the basics right throughout every situation. We spoke about it that the team that does the basics well is the team that is going to win the Word Cup and that is what New Zealand did on the day. 

“We were just not good enough in terms of executing the basics consistently in all three departments [batting, bowling and fielding]. We are going to reflect on all those things and say, where was our philosophy, plans and basics?

“When certain things don’t work, where do we default to and what is our base?” 

Though she returned home without the winners’ medals, Mlaba said she enjoyed testing herself against some of the best and on the biggest stage. 

“I had lots of fun, I always love playing against the best teams in the world because I love the challenge that comes with it. This team always had the belief, we have been working hard and we are catching up with other top teams. 

“Last year we made it to the final and our goal was to win this time around. Unfortunately we didn’t do it, but we tried our best. We are still happy that we made it to the final back-to-back and hopefully next year we will be able to bring the trophy home,” she concluded.