Proteas Women gearing up for T20 World Cup opener against West Indies

Proteas Women gearing up for T20 World Cup opener against West Indies

Proteas Women's captain Laura Wolvaardt says her team will "take it one game at a time" as they look to win the ICC Women's T20 World Cup that kicks off in the UAE on Thursday.

The Proteas Women broke barriers when they reached the final of the tournament on home soil last year, but ultimately fell short when they went down to perennial winners Australia at Newlands in Cape Town.

Wolvaardt's charges start their campaign against West Indies in Dubai on Friday and have group that also includes England, Scotland and Bangladesh.

Only top two will make in each group will make the semifinals and the Proteas skipper is hopeful her side has what it takes to make the knockout rounds.

Speaking at the T20 World Cup captains day, Wolvaardt said: "I think obviously last year was great, but we're just looking to take it one game at a time.

"Obviously a very difficult pool, but hopefully we can make semi-finals and then anything can happen from that."

It will be a first major tournament for Proteas Women head coach Dillon du Preez who took over from Hilton Mooreng who was in the role for 12 years.

The Proteas wrapped up preparations for the global tournament with a series victory in Pakistan under the new coaching staff that also includes batting coach Baakier Abrahams.

Wolvaardt added: "It's obviously a bit different now. I think most players who have played in the team have never played under anyone besides Hilton (Mooreng). But Dillon (du Preez), who's taken over, has been with us for four or five years. So, he still knows how things were and where we're headed.

"And we've actually got a batting coach and a fielding coach now this season for the first time officially as well, so everything just feels really well organized at the moment.

"It's been great just getting a lot of information from a lot of different coaches, even just to have the extra hands at training and to have specific groups doing specific things has been awesome. We're looking forward to this tournament."

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