Proteas Women let down by poor fielding again in series loss to NZ

By Benjamin Leshoro
23rd March 2026

Proteas Women all-rounder Annerie Dercksen has admitted that they were let down by their own poor fielding yet again, as they lost the fourth T20 International against New Zealand in Wellington yesterday.

South Africa went down by 6 wickets to the hosts, who took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series with only one match to go.

Mandla Mashimbyi’s team has been bedevilled by bowling errors and dropped catches the entire summer, something they have tried to address a few times already but it still persists.

Dercksen says while they posted a relatively competitive score of 159 batting first, they made things difficult for themselves with the ball.

"I thought we put on a just above par score with the bat, and then with the ball and in the field I thought we were a bit disappointing. We missed our lines and lengths with the ball and obviously if you drop the amount of catches we did, it's difficult to win a game of cricket."

READ: Proteas level T20I series with New Zealand to set up decisive final clash

The match was played at the Wellington Regional Stadium, known as ‘The Cake Tin’, and has unusually yellow seats in the stands.

Dercksen believes while that might have contributed to their struggles in the field, it is not an excuse for professional cricketers to not do the basics well.

"I think that might have contributed, but we are professional athletes. We had a lot of time during the warm up to take some catches so I won't say it's solely down to that."

She top scored for the Proteas Women with 55 on the day, and in the process recorded her maiden half century in T20 International cricket. The 24-year-old downplayed the milestone, claiming that the team is all that matters.

Although they have already lost the series, Dercksen says they will be putting everything into the final match in Christchurch on Wednesday.

She says it’s still part of their preparations for the T20 World Cup in a few months’ time.

"The T20 World Cup is always going to be the bigger picture and what we're working towards, but every game you get to play for your country is a massive occasion and we definitely won't be taking it lightly. I also think 4-1 is a lot worse than a 3-2 loss."