Annerie Dercksen breathes a sigh of relief after Pakistan close shave

Dercksen top scored for South Africa with a Player of The Match 52 as they chased 126 at Edgbaston, but they made it look harder than it should have been with wickets falling rapidly towards the end of their innings. The 25-year-old expressed relief that they held their nerve long enough to pick up their first points of the tournament.

"I said to the team I am probably going to die 30 years before I should because we have a knack of doing this. But yeah, I think the main thing is that we ended up on the right side. We've done it a couple of times in World Cups now," said Dercksen

READ: Devon van der Merwe leads SA into Nations Cup semifinal

"So the credit to the team, credit to the people coming in and pulling that game through for us because I think at one stage that odds were probably stacked against us a little. So yeah, credit to, I think, Nadine, Chloe, Kayla, Jafta, everyone that came in at the back end."

The Proteas Women were at some point 50/8 and should have wrapped up the Pakistan innings much sooner, but for one Fatima Sana who posted 55 and also led with the ball with figures of 3/16. Dercksen says they knew the threat posed by their opponents’ captain leading up to that game.

Most of the South African batters struggled with spin bowling in the match, as they did against Australia in their opener. Dercksen believes playing a few sub-continent teams like Pakistan and India in the past few months helped sharpen her skills, which was evident in Birmingham.

The Proteas Women now shift their focus to India back at Old Trafford this Sunday, and Dercksen says it was important to get off the mark before that big clash.