After a rain-affected clash that tested both patience and skill, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt expressed immense relief following her side’s victory against Sri Lanka. The game, which saw a five-hour delay, demanded adaptability from both batters and bowlers on a tricky surface.
“It’s a big relief,” Wolvaardt admitted. “Especially after the five-hour break. I think we looked a bit nervy when we came back on the field, with a couple of missed fields. But we did a great job of regrouping mid-innings and getting those wickets near the end. Especially after our last game against a subcontinent side, where we found ourselves in a bit of trouble, it was nice to have a convincing win against a similar sort of side.”
For Wolvaardt, who has had a quiet tournament so far, her composed fifty in challenging conditions was a timely return to form ahead of their next clash against Pakistan. “Very nice,” she smiled when asked about her performance. “Obviously, it hasn’t been the best tournament for me overall, so it was nice to hit a few. It was a reduced game, so I just thought of it as a normal T20, Taz and I went out with that mindset. We both got off to decent starts and just kept going.”
The rain not only interrupted play but also created a unique challenge for the bowlers, especially as two of South Africa’s lead bowlers, Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, were unavailable to bowl during the death overs.
“That was a little bit tricky,” Wolvaardt explained. “Kapp and Khaka are usually quite big for us at the death, so we had to go to the left-arm spinners, which we don’t do too often that late in a game. But I thought they bowled brilliantly. I thought Annerie’s last over at the death was very good, and Nadine’s last over with those yorkers was good as well. That ball was like a bar of soap, so they did really well to grip it at the end.”
Bowling spin in the death overs is unconventional, but Wolvaardt praised Nonkululeko Mlaba for embracing the challenge with confidence.
“She was confident, loves a challenge,” Wolvaardt said with a laugh. “She almost asked me the other day what my favourite phase to bowl is, and she said probably the death. She likes it when the batter challenges her; it gets her into a competitive zone. I thought she bowled very well today, it was awesome.”
South Africa also handed a debut to young wicketkeeper-batter Karabo Meso, a move Wolvaardt described as a planned decision to provide World Cup exposure.
“Karabo, who came in, has been amazing for us for a very long time, very young as well,” she said. “We just thought it was a good game to give her some World Cup exposure. I thought she was excellent and had a really good take behind the stumps, so a great game for her.”
Reflecting on the early setback against England, Wolvaardt emphasized the importance of resilience and maintaining a short memory in tournament play.
“After that game, we just said to ourselves that we know we’re a lot better than that and wanted to forget about it as quickly as we could,” she said. “In these tournaments, you have to have a short memory. You take your learnings, maybe think about what you could have done better for a couple of days, and then totally switch off and focus on the next game — which I think we’ve done really well so far.”
For Wolvaardt, the most satisfying aspect of the campaign has been the collective effort across all departments.
“It’s been great. It’s felt like the whole team has contributed in different parts of the tournament, which has been awesome,” she said. “We definitely haven’t relied on one or two people, whether it’s Nadine and Chloe getting us out of a hole, or Taz and me batting well today. The whole bowling unit has been amazing, and our fielding has been pretty decent too.
“We’re still searching for that perfect game as a team where the top order fires and the middle order fires which is exciting because we’re still winning games even though certain things aren’t perfect. It’s great that everyone’s been involved and put in big performances. Hopefully, if we do make the semifinals, that will come in handy.”
As South Africa edge closer to sealing their semifinal spot, Wolvaardt’s calm leadership and the team’s growing adaptability suggest a side peaking at the right time, one ready to face whatever challenges come their way.
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