How South Africa women’s mind doctor has helped team handle nerves at World Cup

South Africa were hammered by England in the first game of the tournament against England but they rebounded with five successive wins to book a semifinal spot. They had their revenge against nemeses of recent World Cups in the rematch against Nat Sciver-Brunt’s side and will now face India in the final at Navi Mumbai on Sunday.

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South Africa have already beaten India in the tournament before. And the coach Mashimbyi said he didn’t have to motivate the team for that game. “To be honest, I didn’t have to motivate the players for the match against India. They were up for that game after the start we had to the competition. In the last few games, this team has shown character, and I can’t wait for what is to come.”

On 31st October he had spoken about his run with the team so far and the challenges he faced initially.

“When I came into the job, the one thing that I picked up was probably the division that was within the team, not necessarily in a malice way but I just thought maybe we could be better in making sure that we are more of a united front as a team,” Mashimbyi said. “Also, certain skills with certain players that I felt needed to improve for us to actually come here and become a force.”

He spoke about his approach during that phase. “What’s important for me was just to always give them love, always give them the care, the energy and be consistent in doing that and I think that builds trust. So, those are the things that I can really speak to now,” the coach added.

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“We still have a lot to make sure that we champion within the team environment but yeah, the environment for me was probably the most important to make sure that we get that right because the talent that the players have, have always had that’s why we’ve been in finals before. It was just finding that 10 percenter and that 10 percenter for me was in making the environment a lot stronger.”

Speaking to the Indian Express in Visakhapatnam after beating India, captain Laura Wolvaardt also spoke in glowing terms about Mashimbyi’s impact on this side. “He’s been great,” Wolvaardt said. “He’s really big on culture and creating a good vibe within the group, so I think we spent a lot more time together as a group and sort of built off-field connections a lot better than perhaps we’ve done in the past. It’s good to see that that progress showing on the field, just that trust off-field that’s comes out in pressure moments in the game. He’s been really good on building a culture, creating sort of a brave brand of cricket, making sure people believe in their skills and in their talent. It’s been great to see people backing themselves and really expressing themselves out on the field.”

On Saturday, before the final, she reiterated that Mashimbyi would be in charge of inspiring the team with his speech. “Mandla normally does the really inspirational stuff, that you’re carrying your country type of thing. And then I just come in with a little ‘stay calm girls’ at the end. It’ll be super important for us to just stay as present as we can. There’s going to be a lot of noise, a lot happening, a lot of maybe different routines than you’re used to in a normal game, but at the end of the day it’s just a game of cricket and I think whichever team is able to do the basics for long throughout the game and hold their nerve for longer (will win).”

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