SA Confident for final Group Match

South African vice-captain Claire Terblanche
admitted her side is full of confidence, ahead of their final group match
against the Netherlands
on Thursday.

The 23
year-old Stellenbosch batswoman has been in excellent form against Papua New
Guinea, and is looking forward to Thursday’s ODI match up between two of the
three teams to remain unbeaten in the tournament so far.

"We’re
confident," said Terblanche. "We’ve had two really good games so far, which
were relatively easy, and we aren’t going to change anything about how we play
the game.

"It’s always
nice playing against the Netherlands.
We’ve played them before, and made some really good friends with the
opposition."

As for the Netherlands,
wicket-keeper batter Violet Wattenberg admits that the challenge of the host
country will be a tricky one.

"It’s always
difficult to play South
Africa, especially as we have played against
them quite a lot recently and lost" said Wattenberg. "Every time we play them
it’s a difficult match, but we’ve just got to improve on our own performances."

Terblanche
and Wattenberg were two of eight players who today visited Mbekweni Primary
School to deliver a cricket coaching clinic, as part of the ICC’s partnership
with UNICEF and UNAIDS to raise awareness and reduce stigma around HIV/AIDS.

Also there
was Irish skipper Heather Whelan, whose side faces a make-or-break game against
Zimbabwe
in Pool B.

The winners
of the game will not only qualify for the semi-finals of the ICC Women’s World
Cup Qualifier and keep their dreams of qualifying for cricket’s global event in
Australia in 2009 alive, but they will also be guaranteed a place in the top
ten of the world rankings, and guarantee their ODI status for the next four
years.

"There is a
lot of pressure but the team is fairly confident," said Whelan. "After our win
yesterday the team is really up for the match tomorrow."

The other
remaining games see the match up between two of the event outsiders, Bermuda
and Papua New Guinea, while Scotland complete their group matches against Pakistan, who
are virtually guaranteed a spot in the semi-finals already.