Sune Luus will captain the South African team in the upcoming 2022 Women’s World Cup, with Chloe Tryon continuing as her deputy. Lizelle Lee, the Women’s ODI cricketer of 2021, returns to the team having missed the home series against West Indies due to COVID-19. The team will continue to miss the services of Dane van Niekerk who has been out of action for a while due to an ankle fracture.

Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk and Raisibe Ntozakhe will be the travelling reserves for South Africa during the World Cup. Apart from the 15-member squad and the three reserve players, South Africa also have an 11-member contingent of support staff that includes head coach Hilton Moreeng and assistant coach Dillon du Preez.

South Africa squad: Sune Luus (c), Chloe Tryon (vc), Ayabonga Khaka, Lara Goodall, Laura Wolvaardt, Lizelle Lee, Marizanne Kapp, Masabata Maria Klaas, Mignon du Preez, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Shabnim Ismail, Sinalo Jafta, Tazmin Brits, Trisha Chetty, Tumi Sekhukhune.

“The squad was not just brought together in the last few months, it’s a process that we commenced in 2017 and we identified certain areas that we needed to strengthen. There were strategic selections made through various camps and tours that we’ve had and played prior to this,” said Convenor of Selectors Clinton du Preez on Friday (February 4).

“The players have come along nicely and in leaps and bounds, and it’s good to see that we can now, with injuries and key personnel out of the team, find strategic replacements to cover for them, which is important and speaks volumes of the depth that we’ve created within this programme.

“In 2020, when we went to New Zealand, we clinched the ODI series and from there that just set the tone for us to go and push on for the ODI World Cup and I think it is important that all the hard work has been put in, including the selections for the playing conditions that we see ourselves facing,” said du Preez. “Our team is ready to compete, and our team is ready to go further than just the semi-final berth and go and try and clinch the World Cup,” he added.

South Africa begin their campaign on March 5 with the game against Bangladesh in Dunedin. They then travel to Tauranga for their games against Pakistan and England on March 11 and 14 respectively. They play against host New Zealand on March 17 in Hamilton while Wellington is their next destination for their games against Australia (March 22) and West Indies (March 24). Their final league game is against India in Christchurch on March 27.