Hosts South Africa keen to make an impression on home soil
Squad
Oluhle Siyo (c), Elandri Janse Van Rensburg, Simone Lourens, Anica Swart, Karabo Meso, Madison Landsman (vc), Kayla Reyneke, Jenna Evans, Miane Smit, Ayanda Hlubi, Seshnie Naidu, Refilwe Moncho, Mona Lisa Legodi, Nthabiseng Nini, Jemma Botha
Non-Travelling Reserves: Caitlin Wyngaard, Diara Ramlakan
Schedule
January 14 v India in Benoni
January 16 v Scotland in Benoni
January 18 v UAE in Benoni
Key player - Seshnie Naidu
Just turned 17, spinner Seshnie Naidu is a key player in South Africa's ranks. She picked up seven wickets in the recent bilateral series against the India under-19 team.
Naidu was also impressive in the series against Zimbabwe women for South Africa emerging women's team.
Already a part of the Dolphins setup, she played a couple of games in the CSA Women's Provincial T20 Competition this season. The talented young spinner also played in the CSA Provincial League, taking six wickets in three matches in the fifty-overs competition.
A product of the Kingsway High School, she interestingly captained the boys' team in Grade 7 as she revealed in the Sunday Tribune.
Expectations:
The hosts have no players with senior international experience in the squad, but having played together quite a bit in recent times, they pack quite a punch.
Skipper Oluhle Siyo and all-rounder Kayla Reyneke seems destined for big things. The 15 players and the two non-travelling reserves also participated in CSA Women’s Super League.
Just 7⃣ days to go until the #SAW19 gets their ICC Under 19 Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 campaign started 🇿🇦#BePartOfIt pic.twitter.com/rfwTUHDKGk
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) January 7, 2023
The team is coached by Dinesha Devnarain, who has been at the helm for the past year and has worked closely with the team.
“This inaugural event comes with a lot of responsibility for us as coaches and players," the head coach Devnarain said ahead of the tournament.
"As custodians of the game, custodians of our country, we ought to be patriotic and know that we can make the country proud.
“I hope we stick to our performance benchmarks and the brand of cricket we want to play. We understand fear can be nerve-wracking and we want to channel it into an opportunity to drive us to our performances.
The head coach maintained that this team had developed a brand of cricket that could take them far in the competition and despite recent setbacks against India, this team could be one to watch out for.