Wolvaardt: This is something you dream about as a kid
Media release
Laura Wolvaardt realised her childhood dream by scoring a brilliant century and captaining South Africa to their first ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final.
Wolvaardt hit a majestic 169 as the Proteas took advantage of England’s decision to put them into bat first and made an eye-catching 319 for seven from their 50 overs.
Marizanne Kapp then matched that performance with a scintillating bowling display, as she took career-best figures of five for 20 to become the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup’s all-time leading wicket-taker.
England fell to one for three at the beginning of their innings and were eventually bowled out for 194, making Sunday’s showpiece the first ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup final they will miss since 2013.
South Africa will face either Australia or India and whoever comes through Thursday’s match will know they need to stop Wolvaardt with the bat.
The 26-year-old paced her innings perfectly, with her first 50 runs coming in 52 balls, before a late assault at the back end of the innings brought a flurry of boundaries.
"It stills feels a bit unreal,” said Wolvaardt. “This is something you dream about as a kid, getting a century in a World Cup. It is a very special day and I am so glad we won in the end.
"We knew the start would be crucial. Tazmin Brits and I have been strong at the top of the order and that feeds into the rest of the order. We knew it was a decent wicket and it was great we got to a big score on a flat pitch.
"I went with the momentum. I know I have the shots in me but I wanted to get to the 40th over to make way for the other girls to whack it. I was happy to get a few leg-side boundaries - I could have gone for that earlier!
"This has to be at the top of my career. To win this against such strong bowling side, this is right up there."
Wolvaardt and Brits put on 116 before England took three quick wickets, including two for left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone.
Kapp (42) produced a helpful cameo before Wolvaardt accelerated hard in the final 10 overs. She reached her 10th ODI century and then hit three sixes and seven fours in a five-over spell.
England struggled in reply as Kapp bowled both Amy Jones and Heather Knight in the first over to leave them on nought for two, which became one for three when Tammy Beaumont edged Ayabonga Khaka behind.
Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt (64) and Alice Capsey (50) offered resistance but the damage had been done and Kapp returned to take three more scalps and seal the Proteas’ progress.
“They were one for three, we definitely did not expect that,” Wolvaardt added.
“Kappie was phenomenal. Amazing to see her bowling like that. What she offers with the bat, she is like a two-in-one player and that is amazing.”
Meanwhile, England captain Sciver-Brunt was proud of her players and insists they will learn from the defeat going forwards.
"We've come a long way since the summer,” Sciver-Brunt said.
“We're a different side from then and we've learnt a lot.
"This will hurt but hopefully in time we'll be able to take the learnings from it and move forward because we've made some great strides so far in quite a short space of time.
"It's really exciting where we can go. To beat the best teams, you really have to be at your best and hopefully we'll come back stronger the next time."
ENDS