World Cup exit ‘breaks our hearts’, says Proteas skipper Luus: ‘Hard pill to swallow’ | Sport

• Proteas captain Sune Luus could not hide her disappointment following Thursday’s World Cup exit. 
• The South Africans did not show up and were completely outplayed by England. 
• Luus says she feels for the players who might not take part in another World Cup.

Proteas skipper Sune Luus says Thursday’s Women’s Cricket World Cup semi-final defeat to England at the Hagley Oval “breaks our hearts”. 

The South Africans were outplayed from start to finish, going down by 137 runs against the side they had beaten in the tournament’s group stages. 

Ranked No 2 in the world and having secured second place on the group stages log, the Proteas would have backed themselves to get over the line and secure a place in Sunday’s final against the favourites, Australia. 

Instead, England made 293/8 before the Proteas were bowled out for 156 in what was easily their worst performance of the tournament. 

Luus, who captained in the absence of the injured Dane van Niekerk, was visibly disappointed after the match, though she held her composure well to get through the pitch-side and post-match press conferences. 

Now 26-years-old, Luus said the loss was particularly difficult to take given that some players will likely not play in another World Cup. 

Mignon du Preez and Marizanne Kapp, for example, are 32 while Trisha Chetty and Shabnim Ismail are 33. Seamer Masabata Klaas is 31. 

“It’s a very sad changeroom tonight,” said Luus after the match.

“There are a couple of players who might be playing their last World Cup, and for us as younger players, it breaks our hearts that we couldn’t give them the final and help them get that trophy they’ve been working towards for about 15 years.

“It’s going to be a hard pill to swallow, especially in the way we lost. I felt like that was disappointing.”

Despite the result, Luus praised her charges for what she said was a successful campaign. 

“I guess it still doesn’t take away from how we’ve been playing, so I think we need to look back at that,” she said. 

“It didn’t go our way, but I think we can still be very proud of ourselves.

“I think we’ve had a brilliant campaign to get ourselves into the semi-finals.

“It’s very disappointing to not be in that final, but we’ve played good cricket. We just didn’t deliver our best today when it was needed.”