The Proteas women’s team find themselves in must-win territory in just their second game of the Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales, with them taking on Pakistan at Edgbaston in Birmingham on Wednesday night (7:30pm start).

This year’s showpiece event sees two groups of six teams each, with all the teams in their pool playing each other, followed by the top two sides progressing to the competition semifinals.

The Proteas’ big loss against Australia in their tournament opener on the weekend has left them in a dangerous position, as they are in the group of death, along with the Aussie favourites, 50-over champs India, and Pakistan and Bangladesh, who are tricky sides to deal with.

A loss against Pakistan could thus be catastrophic, as they are already behind the eight ball due to a poor net run rate, and they will need to bounce back strongly if they are to stand any chance of making the knockouts.

Star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp says that the players are not focused on the permutations, and that their focus is solely on the task at hand, which is getting a win in their next match.

“We know where we want to go. We want to reach the semifinals and final. But we have to win games of cricket to achieve that, so for now we are focused on each game as it comes, which next is Pakistan,” said Kapp.

“We can’t look too far ahead, because if you start doing that you will probably find yourself wanting. So for now, we are just focused on the next match, on playing our best cricket and if we do that the rest will look after itself.”

The Proteas and Pakistan have played each other many times over the past few years, and in the last nine months alone the teams have met in three series, two ODI series, one in Pakistan and the other in South Africa, and a T20I series in SA.

They thus know each other well, while Kapp also believes they will have a slight leg up on the Proteas, after they played at Edgbaston against India on Sunday, although they suffered a heavy defeat, which will make both teams desperate.

“We have played them so many times, so both teams know each other very well. Also with them having played there on that wicket, they kind of know the conditions now, whereas I know a lot of our girls have not played on that wicket,” explained Kapp.

“So we have to be at our best because Pakistan can be really good on their day if everything clicks for them. But I also feel we are hungry, especially after that first loss. We know we weren’t at our best so we have to rock up next game.”