The Junior Proteas enter the next stage with two challenging matches ahead, facing Ireland and the USA. En route to the Super Sixes, the Proteas were unstoppable with wins against New Zealand, Samoa, and Nigeria to finish at the top of Group C.

Although unbeaten so far and considered strong contenders, the competition will be tougher than in the group stage. Devnarain underlined the importance of adapting to Malaysia’s conditions and focusing on factors within their control.

“We can’t get too ahead of ourselves. Knowing that we played Ireland and the USA at home in our conditions, it’s very different here. We’ve got to approach the game as though we don’t have the upper hand.

“We need to use what we’ve learned about these conditions to our advantage. It will be tricky for the girls to adapt, but we’ve had plenty of conversations about that. What we saw two months ago with the US team and three months ago with Ireland doesn’t matter now.

“It’s all about what we can control and how we want to execute,” she said.

Nthabiseng Nini. Photo: X

Devnarain added that the focus is not on major adjustments but rather on refining the finer details, and she believes getting this right will make the team even harder to beat. “We talk about the 1% improvements a lot,” she said. “There’s plenty we’ve identified over the three games so far.

“We don’t focus on the big things too much. Instead, we prioritise what we can control in such a short time. We want to improve our catching efficiency, run better between the wickets, and refine our line and length. The next game is a great opportunity to get these aspects right.”

South Africa will face Ireland in Kuching on Saturday morning (25/1) at 08:30.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg/mvh