This begins with the Women’s T20I Tri-Series final against India on Thursday.

Ahead of the conclusion of the ongoing Tri-Series and following the Proteas Women’s squad announcement for the T20 World Cup on home soil, Moreeng addressed the media on Wednesday.

The 45-year-old, who also celebrated his birthday on the day, touched on various talking points, including the make-up of the selected squad, the final against India and the expectations of hosting a global showpiece.

Throwing forward to Thursday’s clash in the Buffalo City, the head coach emphasised the importance of staying in the present, with the focus solely on finishing strong against a talented Indian side before looking ahead to the World Cup.

"The most important thing for us is to look at where the squad is and where everyone needs to be before we can leave Buffalo Park. Once we are happy with what we are seeing with most of the players, then we can look into and start worrying about the World Cup," Moreeng commented.

"With every preparation, every game that we’ve had, even the practice matches that we had, the World Cup has always been the bigger picture, but we realised that it is one day at a time.

"We have a (Tri-Series) final against India, where in the first game we didn't start well. You could see the rustiness from the players, that competitive edge was not where it was supposed to be because of the break that we had, but it has been an upward curve for the squad and we're very happy to see how the team is moving in the right direction in these conditions.

"It is just about making sure now that we can finish off well and take the momentum into the World Cup," he added.

After the Tri-Series, Moreeng and his Proteas Women team will return to Stellenbosch to finalise their World Cup preparations before opening the tournament against Sri Lanka on Friday, 10 February 2023 at the Six Gun Grill Newlands Cricket Ground.

With the weight of expectations placed on the team by an entire nation, Moreeng is backing his side’s lived experience, particularly in recent global ICC events, and states the squad is fully aware of what will be needed in order to be successful, albeit in the unique environment of a World Cup on home soil.

"For us, it goes without saying: you're playing at home, you have an opportunity to win a World Cup in front of your home supporters and that is what every player in the squad has been speaking about for the last year and a half," he noted.

"These are conditions that most of us are familiar with and we want to give ourselves the best chance. The first hurdle for us is to make sure we get through the group stages and get ourselves into the knockout stages, and then we can take it from there.

"We have enough experience. Most of the core players that are currently in the squad have been to the World Cup, they have experienced these semi-finals and they know what is required going forward," the coach added.

The biggest talking point of the press conference was the omission of all-rounder, Dané van Niekerk from the 15-player World Cup squad. The 29-year-old missed out on eligibility for selection after not succeeding in a bid to meet the team’s minimum physical requirements.

While sympathising with the player, Moreeng highlighted the importance of focusing on the way forward for the squad as they prepare to take on the world on South African shores.

"It's been tough on everyone and the player that I know will be very disappointed because of what has transpired. But at the end of the day, we as a team need to move on and we know we’ve got a final that we need to focus on tomorrow.

"Overall, the team has been working hard, and yes, these kinds of disappointments are one of those things in sport that you deal with and at the end of the day, we need to move on as a team," Moreeng added.

Play at Buffalo Park in East London is set to begin at 15:00.