ICC World Cup 2022: We needed to bring our best performance but we didn’t – Sune Luus after loss against England

South African captain Sune Luus was disappointed after they were knocked out of the ICC Women World Cup 2022 as they lost the semifinal against England by 137 runs at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Thursday. Luus stated they needed to bring their best performance but admitted they couldn’t when it mattered the most.

England posted a decent score of 293 runs after the South African captain won the toss and decided to field first. In fact, South Africa gave four reprieves to England opener Danielle Wyatt, who went on to score 129 runs. The right-hander was only on 22 runs when her catch was dropped by Lizelle Lee.

It was a big drop for the Proteas as Wyatt punished them and went on to get a big score. Luus admitted that it wasn’t their best performance in the field and it led to their downfall.

Furthermore, South Africa could only manage 156 runs and lost by a huge margin. In fact, five South African batters got off to starts but could not convert them into substantial scores as none of them could go past the 30-run mark.

Sune Luus said in the post-match presentation, “I don’t think we had our best fielding performance. England played an extremely good game today and well done to them. We needed to bring our best performance today and we didn’t and we are feeling it. We needed to be clinical today and we weren’t, it is time to keep on working. I still think we had a great campaign and we are not taking anything away from that. I think those crunch moments, we have done really well to get over the line each and every time, extremely proud of the team and how we have been handling that. It is obviously a big honor to play in a World Cup. Hope when we go back home everyone will be proud of us.”

On the other hand, Danielle Wyatt was awarded the Player of the Match for her fine knock of 129 runs. Wyatt also added 116 runs with Sophia Dunkley for the fifth wicket.

She said after the game, “Really happy, it was a complete performance from all the girls today. A couple of days off and we will be ready for the final. Dunkley has been amazing right throughout the tournament, she has a really calm head on her shoulders. Just tried to be positive and get a good start for the team. We have been together for a couple of months, it has been a long trip.”

England will face Australia in the final of the World Cup at the Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Sunday.