SA confident ahead of Pak series, says Lizelle Lee

Dubai [UAE], May 4 (ANI): Opener Lizelle Lee states the South African team set to face Pakistan in the ICC Women's Championship (IWC) is confident and determined to do well.
South Africa will host Pakistan for three One-Day Internationals (ODI) and five T20 Internationals, beginning May 6. Currently, South Africa sits at fifth place with 13 points, while Pakistan are just one spot below with 12 points.
"The batters are looking really good. We played warm-up games on Tuesday and Thursday, which I think went very well. One of our aims was to get to 280-plus consistently and in both games, we did that," ICC quoted Lizelle, as saying.
"The big thing about South Africa that was a bad thing for us is that we always lost wickets in clusters and that comes down to being under pressure but not getting singles and finding a workaround. One of the things we have worked really hard on is getting that right. A lot of the girls have worked on extra options to play during the game and I think it is something that took the pressure off them and it was really good to see us executing that in the warm-up games," she said.
"When we go into game one on Monday, we are going to go hard because we understand the importance of the IWC and the points needed for World Cup qualification. The way we are batting and bowling now and even fielding give me confidence that we can do well in this series. We are definitely going out to get those six points, we are not going to hold back," Lizelle said.
All-rounder Sune Luus will stand-in as regular captain Dane van Niekerk continues to nurse neck injury. As South Africa players are busy on their domestic circuit, Lizelle is happy with the match practice.
"Right now, because we have played so much cricket, we have a team that is more confident in themselves and their abilities. We have been in enough match situations that we don't panic when things don't go our way - it's the healthiest and most competitive that we've ever been as a national team."
With an eye on the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020 in Australia, South Africa are focussing to their T20I team as well. Lizelle said the team is not taking Pakistan lightly in the shortest format as the Asian side had defeated South Africa in a warm-up T20 match in the West Indies last year.
"Pakistan is not a team you should underestimate. This is preparation for the T20 World Cup next year, which is really big for us. We want to make sure we cover all of our bases before we go out there," she said. (ANI)