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South Africa skipper Dane van Niekerk says she has learned so much about leadership and cricket from Sydney Sixers teammates Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy.

South Africa skipper Dane van Niekerk will use lessons learned from Ellyse Perry and Alyssa Healy as she seeks to upset Australia in Thursday's Twenty20 World Cup semi-final.

Cricket South Africa has recently lurched from crisis to crisis, but van Niekerk's team is threatening to deliver the Rainbow Nation a feel-good story.

The underdogs trail the other semi-finalists in terms of resources but have thrived under pressure, suggesting South Africa's reputation as perennial chokers may only apply to the Proteas.

Van Niekerk suggested the women's BBL (WBBL) has helped power their development, praising Sydney Sixers teammates Perry and Healy for teaching her about leadership and pressure-cooker moments.

"Pez is an incredible cricketer and incredible person. She's never shy to share her knowledge about the game," the 26-year-old told AAP.

"Alyssa Healy as well. She gives me a lot of stick, there's a lot of banter - from her side - but she taught me a lot.

"They've been in a lot more high-pressure situations in big tournaments and they've won many World Cups, whereas we've only been in a semi-final. To learn how they mentally go about big games, it's invaluable.

"To play with them and learn their ways, hopefully that's made me a bit more successful individually ... and you take stuff back to your national team and share with teammates."

Van Niekerk was in awe of the Sixers' professionalism, which included general manager Jodie Hawkins picking her up from hospital after an avocado incident she accepts will always be sledging fodder.

"You learn so much in WBBL. Cricket stuff but also administration, training, physical prep, mental prep," she said.

"Never in my lifetime would I have thought I'd be able to play in the Big Bash alongside some of the world's best ... I love the Sixers. It's like a second family."

The legspinning allrounder stayed in a Coogee apartment with wife Marizanne Kapp, a WBBL and national teammate, and scoped out many T20 World Cup venues.

The only slip-up was a blunt-knife blunder that resulted in five stitches in her hand.

"For some very dumb reason I tried to stab an avocado," she said.

"It was a really small cut but I felt it hit the bone and that's when I got a bit nervous. It was gross and I don't do so well with blood. I freaked out a little bit.

"I will never live that down. It definitely was a bit of a laugh for the team, Pez gave me an avocado shirt saying 'I'm the right kind of fat', avocado trousers and some peeling equipment."