Van Dyk, Chawane happy with winning start

South Africa netball team captain, Khanyisa Chawane, is pleased with the early progress shown by the Proteas under new leadership.

Captaining the Proteas for the first time since she took the reins from former captain Bongi Msomi, Chawane led them to a 3-0 clean sweep in their three-match Test series against Malawi at Ellis Park this past week.

The Proteas crushed the tourists in all three Spar Challenge encounters. After cruising to a 68-31 victory in the first game, they picked up a 69-38 win in the second fixture, before coasting to a 69-24 victory in the final clash.

“I’m really happy with how we went about this whole series, how we started and how we finished,” Chawane said.

“As much as the coaches did look for more consistency, I think we did climb up each and every game and really improved.”

Jenny van Dyk, who also had her first rodeo as new head coach, felt they had taken some steps forward as they looked ahead to some bigger challenges next season.

“At this stage, it’s important for us to enjoy the moment,” Van Dyk said.

“We’ve got a 3-0 victory over Malawi on our first run, and we’ve tested quite a lot of different combinations and we’ve put all our players to the test.”

Kamogelo Maseko was named Player of the Series, and the 22-year-old goal attack said they had learned a lot as a squad, despite their opponents struggling to put up much of a fight.

“Malawi offered a different style of play every match, so it was just about adapting but also not derailing from the game plan,” Maseko said.

“This Test series helped us set our own standards as a team and to just see where we are as a unit.”