Captain Laura Wolvaardt says she is pleased to be finding a balance between her traditional stroke play and her big-hitting abilities for the Proteas women in the ongoing T20 International series against India which continues at the Wanderers tomorrow (6pm start).
Wolvaardt was spectacular in the third game in Johannesburg on Wednesday, bashing a record century as the hosts took an unassailable 3-0 lead against the higher-ranked tourists with two games to spare.
The skipper contributed 115 runs off 53 deliveries after reaching her ton off just 47 balls. It equalled the third quickest hundred in women’s T20 International cricket and was the fastest scored by a South African.
“Something I’ve been working on quite a lot the last couple of years is my power hitting, but I’m also trying to find the balance between trying to whack it and still keeping my strokes and the way that I play,” Wolvaardt said.
“I’m obviously known for more traditional cricket, and sometimes I lose it a bit, try to hit it a bit too hard and lose my game. I feel like I found the balance nicely tonight.”
Solid performance by Luus
Wolvaardt was also full of praise for opening partner Suné Luus, who hit 64 not out off 42 balls, with the duo sharing 183 runs for the first wicket as they guided the Proteas to a nine-wicket win with more than three overs to spare.
“It was an excellent innings (from Luus). I thought she was a little scratchy in the powerplay but she didn’t get a lot of strike because I was facing a lot,” Wolvaardt said.
“It was really impressive to see how she hung in there… and I think she has a lot of different options which makes it quite hard to bowl to her, especially the spinners in the powerplay because she sweeps so well and she can hit down the ground.
“I think we complement each other pretty well and it was nice to bat together today.”
Shining at the Wanderers
Wolvaardt said it was also memorable to have achieved such an impressive result in a rare appearance at the iconic Wanderers stadium.
It was the first time the national women’s team played a T20 game at the Wanderers since February 2019.
“It was lovely to play here. It’s such an amazing ground… and it was lots of fun playing at such a big stadium.”
