Mandla Mashimbyi admits Proteas Women were not good enough in NZ defeat

The crushing defeat came in the first of five T20 Internationals, which run parallel with the men’s series in that country. While Mashimbyi admitted that things did not go their way on the day, he believes that they are capable of much more than what the score suggests.

"Ja, it was quite unfortunate to see that we didn't show up today. I think the score doesn't reflect the ability that we have as a team. I think today we just didn't execute as well as we would've liked to but you got to give it to New Zealand – they had a plan and they executed accordingly, and that's why we were found lacking. You've got to give credit where it's due; they just outplayed us today," Mashimbyi said

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With the hosts batting first, South Africa started brightly with a wicket as early as the first over – Izzy Gaze run out by Nadine de Klerk with nothing on the scoreboard. It went south from there as New Zealand then built a solid 146 second wicket partnership between Georgia Plimmer and captain Amelia Kerr. Mashimbyi says they let the game slip in the powerplay and could not recover from there.

On the positive side of things, one of the returnees to the team was Masabata Klaas who removed both Kerr and Brooke Halliday for just 15 runs. Mashimbyi complimented her and the experience she brings into the side.

The two sides now move to Hamilton for the second match tomorrow, and Mashimbyi is confident that they can still rescue the series. He says all they need is to have the right mindset.