Story audio is generated using AIAfter another unnecessarily dramatic World Cup match, Annerie Dercksen admitted that her fresh-faced, grinning “Karoo meisie” persona may see her turn into a “tannie” very quickly.“I said to the team that I’m probably going to die 30 years before I should. We have a knack of doing this in World Cups,” said Dercksen after Wednesday night’s two-wicket win against Pakistan in Birmingham. She smiled as she said it, but below the surface, the 25-year-old knew, as did her teammates, that their performance was not ideal. We’ve been fortunate to play a lot in the sub-continent recently; we also had Pakistan tour SA [last season], and maybe without realising, you have to work on your game against spin. I’m happy that it paid off today.— Annerie Dercksen They won, which was crucial, but they were sloppy in doing so, letting Pakistan off the hook twice and failing to make a dent in their net run-rate figure, which may yet come back to bite them should the fickle English weather play a part in later group games.South Africa made their second T20 World Cup match needlessly tricky. Having reduced Pakistan to 50/8 after an excellent opening spell from Marizanne Kapp — and some daft running between the wickets by Pakistan’s batters — SA let their intensity drop, and appeared anxious as Fatima Sana staged a fightback.“We were well aware of the threat from Fatima, she’s a phenomenal batter,” said Dercksen. The Pakistan captain scored an unbeaten 55, hitting 19 runs off the final over of her side’s innings, to help them reach 126/9. Her 71-run partnership with Tuba Hasan was a record for the ninth wicket, but for all the skill and courage they showed, SA’s lax approach with the ball in that period was worrying. “We will have to review if we could have done something better,” said Dercksen. Again, Laura Wolvaardt’s captaincy will be scrutinised. She dropped too many fielders back immediately after the power play ended, and although she rectified it shortly after, the fact that she did it at all, would have been noticeable to the Pakistanis — and by extension, other rivals in the group.I said to the team that I’m probably going to die 30 years before I should. We have a knack of doing this in World Cups.— Annerie DercksenRather than go for the jugular at that stage, the defensive move seemed to affect the bowlers who suddenly floated deliveries to the batters, while a missed catch from Shabnim Ismail with Hasan on four (she’d go on to make 23) added to SA’s problems.It was Dercksen who was primarily responsible for getting SA to an excellent start as she took to her new No 3 role with aplomb, delighting in taking advantage of the fielding restrictions in the first six overs to power SA to 48/1.It included scoring 21 runs off Rameem Shamim in the fifth over. “It’s quite nice to face a hard ball in the power play with only two fielders out [on the boundary],” said Dercksen.She had batted at No 3 twice in ODIs against New Zealand earlier this year, making 72 and 47. However, she had been less successful in her previous three T20 innings in that position, but Wednesday showed she was capable of fulfilling that role. “We’ve been fortunate to play a lot in the sub-continent recently; we also had Pakistan tour SA [last season], and maybe without realising, you have to work on your game against spin. I’m happy that it paid off today.”However, Dercksen was also a victim of spin, bowled between her legs by Hasan for 52, as SA badly lost their way before finally reaching the target with 19 balls to spare. “I’m not concerned,” Dercksen said of the batting collapse. “I’m more proud we were able to pull that through. It was a tough pitch, it suited their spinners.”