More pressure, more tactics: SA captain Laura Wolvaardt on Women’s Cricket World Cup

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt says leading her side in the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup is a huge honour, highlighting the tactical challenges of ODI cricket. She praised her squad’s depth and hopes to make the nation proud.

HYDERABAD: “It’s so special to lead South Africa at the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup. I captained at the Women’s T20 World Cup last year, but ODI cricket feels very different – there’s more pressure and many more tactical decisions to make,” says South African captain Laura Wolvaardt ahead of the ICC Women’s World Cup, in a chat with ICC media.

“In T-20s, once the powerplay is done, the game can be more straightforward but in ODIs, you constantly have to balance when to attack and when to defend. It’s a huge honour and an exciting challenge, and I’m very happy and grateful to lead this side,” she said.

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“We’ve had good preparation for this tournament and learned a lot of lessons from past ICC events. In the last few ODI World Cups, we made semi-finals,” Laura said.

” I remember being part of that first semi-final loss in 2017 – it really hurt the group, but it helped us see that we could compete with the best sides in the world and qualifying for a final one day is more a question of “when” and not “if” it would ever happen. The belief is very strong in our side going into this tournament,” she said.

“We’d like to keep that momentum going, and we’ll have to play very good cricket in tough conditions, but I strongly believe that we have a very good squad of 15 players on the plane, so I’m very excited for this tournament,” Laura said.

“We bat very deep, with a lot of all-rounders giving us different bowling options, which is exciting for me as captain,” she said.

“Our middle order has really fired recently with players like Chloé Tryon, Annerie Dercksen, and Nadine de Klerk finishing games strongly. Marizanne Kapp is one of the best players South Africa has ever had – she always performs in the big moments,” Laura said.

“Nonkululeko Mlaba has also been phenomenal, and I think she will be crucial in subcontinent conditions. I can’t wait to see her bowl in India especially,” she said

“In subcontinent conditions, the local teams come into the game a lot more. We’ve lost to New Zealand in a World Cup final, and teams like Australia and England are always strong,” Laura said.

“The most important thing for us is to trust the process and take it one game at a time. You never want to get ahead of yourself – it’s a long tournament with lots of cricket, so staying present and focusing on ourselves is key.,” she said.

“Every opponent will be tough, especially in these conditions, where subcontinent players are excellent against spin and their bowlers are very crafty. Teams like Australia, India, and New Zealand prepare very well, so there’s never an easy game,” Laura said.

“To the fans at home – sport has incredible power to unite people in South Africa. The thought of families and friends gathering to watch us play is so special. It makes us proud as a group to know that people are behind us,” Laura said.

“We want to make our country proud, and we want to do our families proud. Every bit of support motivates us to be a united force on the field, and hopefully unite the nation too,” she said.

“We’re very excited, and I hope everyone tunes in to watch us,” she said.