What could have been a cheeky throwaway line quickly became the focal point of South Africa's chastening defeat to Australia in their T20 World Cup opener after head coach Mandla Mashimbyi joked that his team would "definitely have somebody" batting at No. 3 when asked about it pre-tournament. The big question was: who?
Since the last T20 World Cup, where the then No. 3 Anneke Bosch scored a 48-ball 74 to knock defending champions out of the tournament at the semi-final stage, South Africa have trialled six players in the position. The most successful was Laura Wolvaardt, who was inexplicably shifted out of the opening role for 11 matches and scored 374 runs at 46.75, with a strike-rate of 133.57. The next-best was Tazmin Brits, with just 64 runs in five matches.
Like Wolvaardt, Brits' is also a better opener than a No. 3, and has scored the bulk of her runs in the top two. But she had a slightly inconsistent run early in the Mashimbyi era, which saw her moved down the order. Brits scored two fifties in 11 matches between November 2024 and March 2026 when Mashimbyi decided to try something different. She has since struggled at one-drop, and was left out of the starting XI for the T20 World Cup opener. With no Bosch or Brits, and the opening pair set as Wolvaardt and Sune Luus, South Africa had a decision to make.
They could have gone to Marizanne Kapp, who has a strike rate of 109.57 from 38 innings at No.3. or Dane van Niekerk, who has never batted at No.3 in a T20I but did so during a warm-up match against New Zealand. Instead, they chose Annerie Dercksen, who has been their most successful No. 4 since the last World Cup, which meant… that they then needed to find a solution for that spot.
Enter Nadine de Klerk. She has spent the bulk of her career at No.6 and 7, and become one of the game's most reliable finishers. Why was she at a position better served by someone who can stabilise an innings? Turns out, no one knows. "I'm not sure why I'm there," de Klerk said at the post-match press conference, to a few awkward giggles. "It's a team sport at the end of the day. And whatever the team needs from you, you try and put your best foot forward."
Usually, a player admitting to not knowing why they were put in a certain role would be much higher up in a piece like this. But, a disclaimer: South Africa's team (thankfully) are not as media-managed as most and the players can say things clumsily under pressure. They are often speaking English as their second or third language, which can lead to limitations in what they express. This is not to let de Klerk off the hook but she also clarified that the plan to put her at No. 4 was only conceptualised recently. "Maybe it wasn't part of the plan initially when we rocked up in England, but you kind of have to play the conditions at the end of the day. And try and get your best combinations," she said. "Whatever the coaches feel is the best combination on the day. And if they feel I'm best suited at No. 4 in this tournament or going forward, then I'm totally happy to do that as well."
South Africa have talked up the importance of a horses-for-courses approach, and it is the primary reason they convinced seamer Shabnim Ismail to reverse her retirement, but it doesn't appear to have worked yet. The real reason they lost to Australia was that they got their horses wrong for the Old Trafford course. On a surface that became slower as the day went on, they relied on pace and Ismail on a short-ball barrage that travelled, while Australia picked all four spinners at their disposal. Similarly, South Africa went for a line-up of big-hitters at the expense of innings-builders. They could have promoted Kapp or perhaps played one of Brits or van Niekerk and relied on their experience, and not form, to bat them out of a tough situation. Now, their situation has only become tougher.
The margin of their defeat to Australia - 65 runs - leaves their net run-rate at -3.250, which means that apart from having to beat India, they will likely also have to win big against everyone else. For that, they'll need the right combination of innings-builders and finishers. Their next match against Pakistan in Birmingham will likely be played on a more batter-friendly pitch, where the early evidence is that the ball comes on quicker and the outfield has more zip. Then they go back to Manchester to play India on a surface they know and their plans and perhaps their personnel have to be different.
"We are blessed. We're sitting with so many options within the squad and it's not something I stress about," Mashimbyi said pre-tournament, in that same conversation about the No. 3. "In terms of No. 3, it's about what we want and what type of brand we want that No. 3 to play. Based on that, we'll make the right call."
But will they? We'll find out this week.
