Proteas Women target T20 World Cup glory after late coaching shake-up

The quest for gold in England

Mandla Mashimbyi has decided that the only way for his team to climb to the top of the mountain is to start fighting the giants head-on. As the Proteas Women prepare for the ICC T20 World Cup, which kicks off in England and Wales on June 12, the message from their head coach is clear: stop fearing the big names and start beating them. The squad is hunting for their first-ever World Cup trophy after getting painfully close in recent years. They’ve finished as runners-up before, and they're tired of settling for silver. This tournament runs until July 5.

The team has just over three weeks to prove they belong at the pinnacle of the sport.

"If you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best."

A brutal path through

the group stages

The road to the final isn't a stroll in the park. South Africa landed in a group that reads like a who’s who of cricket powerhouses, featuring Australia, India, and Pakistan. They’ll face the defending champions, Australia, at Old Trafford. They’ll also have to deal with a spirited Pakistan side at Edgbaston. A massive showdown against India back at Old Trafford serves as the anchor of their mid-tournament schedule.

To keep their dream alive, they also need to handle the Netherlands in Bristol and Bangladesh at the iconic Lord’s. That final group game at the ‘Home of Cricket’ might be the deciding factor for who makes the knockout rounds.

Refreshing the engine room

In a move that caught many off guard, Mandla Mashimbyi overhauled his backroom staff only weeks before the tournament started. He brought in Andrew Puttick for batting, Mduduzi Mbhatha for fielding, and Tumi Masekela to lead strength-and-conditioning. While Dillon du Preez was kept on as the bowling coach, the reshuffle was meant to inject a completely new energy into the dressing room. This decision came following a rough tour of New Zealand where the team didn't quite find their flow. The coach insisted that this wasn't a panic move.

It was a strategic shift to get the team to reset their mindset and find new perspectives before the big stage.

Learning from past heartbreaks

The team has a history of building up to a crescendo only to falter at the final hurdle. Under the previous leadership of Hilton Moreeng and skipper Suné Luus in 2023, the girls delivered a legendary performance on home soil. They knocked out England in the semifinals before falling to Australia in the final. Last year in the UAE, under Dillon du Preez, they showed even more grit by dismantling Australia in the semis. However, they saw their batting lineup fall apart during a chase against New Zealand.

It’s a painful script they’re desperate to rewrite this time around.

Building the belief

Captain Laura Wolvaardt leads a core group that has been through the fire together. Mandla Mashimbyi held a dedicated team-building camp to help the players realign their focus and boost their self-belief. The technical staff is focusing on keeping the players in the 'green zone'—a state of mental clarity—even when the pressure spikes during a match. The coaches are making small, tactical adjustments that ensure they don't get trapped in negative thinking patterns when things get tight on the field. The final week of training, including warm-up matches, is the only window left to polish these skills before the matches begin.