Healy ended a week of basic surprise working between the wickets during Australia’s victory against Pakistan and watched their final group match against the Republic of India in a moon boot and on crutches.
“As it is, it’s the same for Midgie [Healy]”The medical staff and the team will give him every opportunity and chance to play tomorrow night,” Perry said. “I don’t think anything has changed in that regard. We’ll have to see in the next 24 hours.”
“When things like that happen and you see things that bring your partner down, like an injury, it probably strengthens that resolve to surround each other and support each other,” Perry said. “But it’s really important to stay consistent and stick to the same processes that we have and maintain that level of emotional coherence. Midge is a very important leader in our group and continues to contribute just as well. So not much has changed.” “.
The pressure cooker of the Sharjah stadium, where a sold-out pro-Indian Republic family of nearly 15,000 saw their team defeated by just nine runs, gave Australia a timely challenge before the knockouts. McGrath later made some point of citing the support in the field he had gained from Perry and Ash Gardner.
“It’s always very helpful to be exposed to that kind of pressure and that kind of challenge from a rival and the other night it felt like a step forward, particularly with the whole crowd there and probably not fully behind us.” Perry mentioned. “It was a situation we’d been in before, but we probably hadn’t been exposed to in this World Cup until now, so I thought the way we overcame that and just adapted to the challenge was incredible and I hope that keep us well.” place for the time we have left in this tournament.
That victory, Wolvaardt said, had given South Africa confidence, not to mention its three victories in the organizational stages of this tournament, all of which were played in Dubai, where Australia played only once. South Africa’s biggest defeat was in Sharjah, against England, who then suffered an injury closer to losing their final match in the West Indies.
“It brings me a bit of déjà vu, it’s only been a year since we had to face them in the final,” Wolvaardt said. “A lot has happened since then, although we obviously had two wins against them earlier this year. [one in ODIs, one in T20Is]so I think that gives a bit of positive energy in the camp knowing that if we play our best cricket we can beat them.”
And she said her side had grown since then, not just in terms of personnel with the departure of Shabnim Ismail, the escape of former schoolteacher Hilton Moreeng and the addition of all-rounder Annerie Dercksen, but also through experience.
Closer to Australia’s excursion, South Africa lost a T20I form at home to Sri Lanka 2-1, drew 1-1 at the Republic of India and beat Pakistan 2-1.
“It’s been an up and down year for us,” Wolvaardt said. “We have played some very good cricket by beating Australia and we also had some disappointing series. But I feel we have really achieved our goal in this World Cup.”
Valkerie Baynes is a regular writer, women’s cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
