Under the lights and monsoon skies of Colombo, South Africa’s 26-year-old skipper, Laura Wolvaardt, etched her name into cricketing history, becoming the first South African to surpass 1,000 runs in ICC Women’s ODI World Cups.
The landmark arrived in the Proteas’ sixth game of the ongoing 2025 edition, against Pakistan, led by Fatima Sana, on October 21 at the R Premadasa Stadium. Wolvaardt, who was just 63 runs shy of the milestone before the clash, reached the mark in signature style, building a polished 90 off 82 balls, studded with 10 exquisite boundaries and a couple of towering sixes. South Africa, riding on her sublime stroke play, piled up 312/9 in 40 overs before crushing Pakistan by 150 runs in a rain-curtailed contest.
The feat made Wolvaardt only the eighth player in history to cross the 1,000-run barrier at the Women’s ODI World Cup stage, a testament to her consistency, composure, and class on the biggest platform of the game. It also summed up her evolution from a precariously talented teenager making her debut at 17 to one of the most reliable and elegant modern-day ODI batters in women’s cricket.
South Africa’s journey in the 2025 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup has mirrored their captain’s resilience. After a heavy 10-wicket defeat in their campaign opener against England on October 3 in Guwahati, the Proteas regrouped under Wolvaardt’s calm leadership to string together five successive wins, a record winning streak in the nation’s Women’s World Cup history.
They recorded a six-wicket victory over Sophie Devine’s New Zealand on October 6 at Indore, chased down India’s total by three wickets on October 9 at Visakhapatnam, edged past Bangladesh with another three-wicket win on October 13, crushed Sri Lanka by 10 wickets in a rain-hit clash on October 17, and then humbled Pakistan by 150 runs in their latest outing. With these performances, South Africa sit comfortably atop the points table with 10 points from 6 matches, boasting five wins and a solitary defeat.
Wolvaardt has been the backbone of this charge, accumulating 270 runs at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 86.81, including three half-centuries. She remains South Africa’s leading run-scorer and the second highest in the tournament overall, an embodiment of her relentless hunger for runs and her capacity to lead from the front.
Making her international debut on February 7, 2016, against England in Benoni, Wolvaardt has evolved steadily into one of South Africa’s finest-ever batters. In 116 ODI matches, she has tallied 4,921 runs at an average of 49.21 and a strike rate of 72.78, with 9 centuries and 38 half-centuries to her name.
Her monumental best of 184* came against Sri Lanka at Potchefstroom on April 17, 2024, a knock that showcased her unmatched blend of grace and grit, even though South Africa fell short in that contest. Her series total of 335 runs earned her the Player of the Series award, underscoring her stature as a cornerstone of South African batting.
Laura Wolvaardt’s World Cup journey began on June 25, 2017, against Pakistan in Leicester, the same opponent she faced during her 1,000-run milestone match. She struck a fluent 52 off 87 balls in a chase of 207 on debut, guiding her side to a three-wicket win that hinted at the prolific journey to follow.
Across four editions since, Wolvaardt has compiled 1,027 runs from 21 innings at an exceptional average of 57.05 and a strike rate of 76.47, including 12 half-centuries. Her 90 against Pakistan in Colombo equalled her career-best World Cup score, first registered against Australia on March 22, 2022, in Wellington, where she crafted a composed 90 (134) before South Africa went down by five wickets. That balance, class amid defeat, elegance in dominance, defines Wolvaardt’s cricketing character.
From Leicester 2017 to Colombo 2025, Wolvaardt’s tale is one of persistence, poise, and purpose. In surpassing 1,000 runs, she joins an elite global circle while simultaneously carving a proud legacy for South African cricket. Her record-setting milestone stands not just as a personal triumph but as a reflection of South Africa’s growing stature in the women’s game, led by a player whose bat continues to script history with quiet brilliance.
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