Bellville Cricket Club’s Stacey Lackay welcomed a Proteas debut in Thursday’s opening Women’s Twenty20 International against Bangladesh in Kimberley.
Lackay batted at three in the order, scoring one, and didn’t bowl. South Africa won the match by 17 runs.
She effectively earned the call-up on the back of several impressive performances for Western Province Women and Boland Women in the Cricket South Africa Women’s Provincial League.
“Having looked at the growing trend in the way that T20 cricket around the world is being played, we know that consistency with the bat is going to be very important,” said head coach Hilton Moreeng.
“We have to look at getting scores that are above 120 in order to be competitive. It’s also important that we also find ways of capitalising on every little opportunity to score runs during the middle periods of the game which is around where we tend to stagnate.
“We need to find ways of gaining momentum. That being said, I’m quite happy with how we approach the powerplay.”
The second and third T20I will take place in Bloemfontein on Saturday and Sunday.
“Going into the T20Is, the girls are really eager for the change of pace and are hoping to win three-nil. It’s a high-intensity format, so the gameplans are always simple. We’ve got some really big hitters in the team, myself included,” added stand-in captain Chloe Tryon.
“I’m just really looking forward to playing my natural game, which is to be aggressive and help the team reach its goal.”