Chloe Tryon of South Africa celebrates with her teammates. Picture: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix
Cape Town - The Proteas have only played in two Women's World Cup semi-finals in their entire history. On Thursday at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch they will be hoping its third time lucky after the two previous defeats.
IOL Sport's Zaahier Adams takes us down memory lane and relives those disappointments.
2000: SA v Australia, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln
SA: 180/8 (Linda Olivier 41, Sunette Viljoen 28, Charmaine Mason 3/39); AUS: 181-1 (Lisa Keightley 91*, Belinda Clark 75, Cindy Eksteen 1/39) Australia won by 9 wickets
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Although South Africa lost heavily to a very strong Australian outfit, just qualifying for the semi-finals was ground breaking for the Proteas Women's team in their development as it was only their second appearance at the Women's World Cup.
“We were a group of part-timers, not like the girls of today," said captain Daleen Terblanche, who played alongside current Proteas middle-order batter Mignon du Preez towards the end of her career.
“We had done really well to beat England to get to the semi-finals but then we came up against the Aussies - they were on a different level. They were playing the game longer than us at the highest level and had more time to train, especially on issues like fitness and fielding. Lisa Keightley played very well on the day.”
2017: SA v England, Bristol
SA: 218/6 (Mignon du Preez 76*, Laura Wolvaardt 66, Heather Knight 1/8)
England: 221/8 (Sarah Taylor 54, Heather Knight 30, Sune Luus 2/24, Khaka 2/28)
England won by 2 wickets
The Proteas almost produced a near-miracle through a dose of "Madiba Magic" with the match being played on Nelson Mandela Day. Ultimately though it ended in heartbreak with England's No 10 Anja Shrubsole striking a boundary with just two balls remaining. Dane van Niekerk's team were crestfallen after coming so close to creating history.
"If one cries, all of us cry, we all hurt,” said Chloe Tryon, the vice-captain at the post-match interview back then.
Van Niekerk echoed her deputy's sentiments
“If you were in our changing room right now, you would probably start crying as well,” she said afterwards.
The final words were left to veteran batter Du Preez though.
“We said we want to leave a legacy, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve shown the world that we are a force to be reckoned with ... I hope that will inspire young girls to take up the sport and that it will soon be a full career option for those back home.”
Five years on, Du Preez and this Proteas team have certainly become an inspiration to young girls all over the country.
It is now up to them to take it one step further and leave a genuine legacy as the first South African senior cricket team to qualify for an ICC World Cup final.