- Proteas opener Andrie Steyn is delighted with her performance against Ireland and hopes to carry that momentum onto the upcoming England tour and Commonwealth Games.
- Thanks to an unbeaten half-century by Steyn and Lara Goodall, the Proteas took an unassailable 2-0 ODI series lead against Ireland.
- Steyn wants to continue proving herself and hopes it'll lead to more opportunities in the next two months.
Proteas opening batter Andrie Steyn wants to keep up the momentum as she hopes for possible inclusion in the women's tour to England and next month's Commonwealth Games.
On Tuesday, Steyn shared an unbeaten 165-run partnership with Lara Goodall as the Proteas cruised to a nine-wicket victory in the second ODI against Ireland.
Steyn played a splendid unbeaten knock of 84 off 104 balls (hitting seven fours) as the Proteas took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match ODI series in Dublin.
It was a slow knock for Steyn as she reached her sixth ODI half-century off 72 balls and she credited her partner Goodall (93*) for helping her through her innings.
"For me, to pass 50 was kind of nice. I struggled a bit in the middle part. Lara came to me and helped me out with that rough patch, so it's really nice to see those partnerships," Steyn told reporters after Tuesday's win.
"You get to know the person you're battling with and they kind of help you through things if times are tough.
"Lara and I, and even Laura (Wolvaardt), know each other well as we play for Western Province, so it's great that we can take that provincial set-up and continue it within a national space."
The Proteas have been without their opening batter Lizelle Lee for the Irish leg, with Steyn putting up her hand and delivering match-winning performances.
Steyn has given the selectors some headaches as the Proteas take on England in an all-format tour from 27 June-25 July before embarking on a historic Commonwealth Games debut.
With the likes of Lee, Marizanne Kapp and regular skipper Dane van Niekerk returning for the England tour, Steyn will find it even tougher to make the starting XI despite her stellar performance against Ireland.
Steyn, who has 35 ODI caps to her name, insists she'll continue to surpass her personal goals and, hopefully, it can allow her to perform in England.
"Cricket is something I really enjoy, it's not something I do to prove to other people. It's more at proving myself and keep putting myself in challenging situations and see whether I can figure it out, or how to get out of it," said Steyn.
"That's what I enjoy, especially with batting, you can never really master it. So for me in this series, there were so many personal goals in the sense that I wanted to come to England and/or Ireland and score runs, which I've never done before.
"If that then leads to being selected for one of the bigger ones, then that's great, but if not, it's not going to be an end-all situation. The personal goals that I set up for myself should take care of that [selection] in the first place."
Steyn believes every player in the Proteas women's squad understands their role, even if they have to make way for the more experienced players.
"The girls who are here right now have been around the system, so everyone does kind of know their role. Nothing changes whether the top players are or aren't here. You just continue whether you get called upon or not.
"Especially going into something like the Commonwealth [Games], you never know when someone could get injured and you need to be ready to step in, so everything has stayed the same, we all know what we need to do. Everyone has been around for a while."
The Proteas already secured a series win ahead of Friday's final ODI in Dublin and whether or not the Proteas make any changes, Steyn states that South Africa won't give it up.
"For me, while you have momentum, don't let the foot off the pedal, especially us in the top three," said Steyn.
"We had a really good series so far, we want to run with it, especially batting-wise. If you get another chance, we've got to put our head down and bat whether it's first or not, we have to get the runs. No letting up for sure."
The final ODI is set for Friday at 11:45 SA time.