What did Laura Wolvaardt had to say after losing T20 World Cup title by just 32 Runs?

South Africa suffered a heartbreaking loss at the hands of New Zealand on Sunday in Dubai as they fell shy of 32 runs in the final of ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Playing their second straight final, there were plenty of expectations from the Proteas but Laura Wolvaardt and co. failed to deliver yet again on the D-day. After the match, Wolvaardt addressed the media, dissecting the final and her overall experience of playing this tournament.

Reflecting on the defeat against New Zealand in the final, she said, “Not a nice feeling. A lot of us really thought this was our opportunity. We let them score too many runs. They had a good last five to six overs. We also bowled about 15 extras.” She further added, “After our batting powerplay, it was game on but in the overs seven to 11, we lost momentum. In the final 10, we had to chase about 10 runs per over and that was difficult.”

Though South Africa ended up on the losing side, there were some positives that the team could take. “To be able to make finals with a younger group is promising. We played in back-to-back [T20 World Cup] finals. We are definitely doing something right.”

Besides her team’s performance, individually, Wolvaardt had a phenomenal tournament with the bat as she ended up as the top run scorer of the tournament. The right-handed opening batter piled up 223 runs in six matches at an average of 45 and strike rate of 113. These numbers suggest that she has been successful in managing captaincy and her individual batting well.

“With the captaincy I have to do a lot more homework: condition-wise, position-wise, plans-wise. I think all that has made me smart as a cricketer. The focus is more on the team than me and that rubs off on my batting. I bat to win games for my team. It is reflecting in my performance,” Wolvaardt said.

Though she had an excellent outing with the bat, her palpable desire to win the silverware remained unfulfilled. They beat the defending champions Australia in the semi-final to cruise into the final, but they could not pull off another stellar performance in the ultimate clash. “We probably played the worst game of the tournament in the finals,” concluded Wolvaardt.