South Africa Women gear up for rare Test on historic tour Down Under
South Africa registered their maiden wins in women's T20Is and ODIs against Australia in the series, but a sterner test awaits them.
South Africa women are prepared for a rare Test match Down Under after a hard-fought limited-overs leg.
While they lost the ODI and T20I series, the tour is already a historic one for the Proteas women, who registered their first-ever victories in both T20Is and ODIs over Australia.
The Test match will be a bigger challenge for this South African team, whose only Test before this (since 2014) came in 2022 against England and ended in a draw.
Overall, South Africa have won only one of the 13 women's Tests they have played. That win came way back in 2007 against Netherlands.
“It's going to be a great challenge for us," South Africa all-rounder Nadine de Klerk said.
"Obviously, it's kind of unknown territory for us and we haven't played a lot of it. They're a world-class side and we're looking forward to going up against them."
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"It's about applying a lot of patience. It's quite different from the white-ball games. You kind of have to bat for long periods of time and I think the bowlers are going to bowl quite a few overs in there. So today it’s about figuring out how you want to go about it as individuals.
“Everybody's game plan is going to look quite different. It's about trying to figure out what works best for you and then taking that into the game,” she said.
The upcoming match is the first-ever Test between these two countries. It's also the first time since 2017 that there has been a red-ball international match at the WACA in Perth.
Additionally, it's only the fourth time that women's Test cricket is being played at this ground, with the last one being in January 2014.
"Coming to Australia is quite special in general. A lot of us haven't actually played here before, so I think for a lot of our young girls, it's a great experience and we might not get that opportunity anytime soon," de Klerk said.
"So we'll try and make the best out of it and hopefully have a lot of fun."
Laura Wolvaardt will lead the South Africa side in the Test match that begins on Thursday, 15 February.