Women’s World Cup 2025, ENG vs SA: Laura Wolvaardt said that South Africa are more than capable of taking down England in the semi-final on Wednesday in Guwahati. Earlier in the tournament, the Proteas had lost to the Brits by 10 wickets after being bowled out for 69.
00:00Hi, Laura. Hello. All the best for tomorrow. I wanted to ask you a little bit about just the rivalry between England and South Africa.
00:06A lot's been made off it, the fact that they've had your number, especially when it comes to, like, the lower end, the back end of the tournament.
00:12What have the conversations been like within the setup? Maybe is there any pressure? How are you guys basically just taking the run-up to the same time?
00:19Yeah, I think we've had a great tournament so far. I think as a group, we're really just trying to focus on the positives and sticking to our game plans and doing what we do best.
00:28I think if we just keep playing the way that we have, you know, we'll have a really good shot at winning tomorrow.
00:35I think we want to win tomorrow, so do they. It's a semi-final, anything can happen, so I think that if we just play our best cricket, it'll be a really good game of cricket.
00:43Right. What is this looking like for you as a leader? Because from last year, there have been two ICC tournaments in the last 12 months for you as a leader,
00:49and Dylan was a little worried about you after the final last time because you were still very much analyzing the game and things like that when everyone else was having an emotional reaction.
00:57So just how has that journey been like for you as a leader in terms of figuring your own self out, right, at the head of this team?
01:04Yeah, I think I've learned a lot about myself as a leader over the last, what, two years that I've been captain.
01:09I think for me tomorrow, it'll just be about keeping everyone as calm as possible.
01:13I think the calmest team out there will most likely win.
01:16I think 50 overs is a very long time, and it's very easy to let sort of the pressure of a semi-final get to you, but I think, you know, it's still just a game of cricket, and there'll be ups and downs within the game,
01:27and I think the team that sort of rides those waves the best throughout the 100-over game will come out on top.
01:33So, yeah, I think just keeping everyone calm, obviously have our plans in place, so we're trying to stick to those as best as we can.
01:40I think we're really well prepared as a group, so just trusting and believing in that preparation that we've done as well.
01:46Great.
01:49Hi, Laura. All the best for tomorrow.
01:51Thanks.
01:52I know you don't want to be reminded about this, but the way the first and last match went in the league stage, since you were all out cheaply,
02:00but in all the other matches, the strength of the batting line-up showed right from the top to the lower order.
02:08Since it is not a skill thing, obviously, what kind of discussions are you having, especially with the younger players, to put these things behind you quickly to perform well at the big stage now?
02:18Yeah, I think...
02:19Hi.
02:20I think we've just spoken about...
02:23Obviously, we have played some really good cricket throughout the tournament.
02:26It's definitely not a skill thing,
02:27so I think most of our discussions leading up to tomorrow have just been about making sure that we're in the right mental state to play the game,
02:34really believing in our preparation, really trusting in our skills and what we've done before.
02:39I think we know as a group that we have a really talented,
02:42and that if we just stay calm out there tomorrow, we have a really good chance of winning.
02:46I think they're under a lot of pressure as well.
02:49Everyone is in a semi-final, so...
02:51Yeah, I think it's whoever is able to handle that the best
02:53and just keep focusing on the positives that we've done right throughout the tournament.
03:03All right, hi.
03:04You're just 48 runs shy of becoming the first South Africa batter to score 5,000 runs in ODIs.
03:10Achieving this in a semi-final or a final, what would that mean to you?
03:15It's not really something that I've thought about.
03:20You know, whether it's tomorrow or in full game, it's time, it's same-same.
03:25But yeah, it would be really cool to get there, I guess.
03:28But yeah, definitely not the main thing I'm focusing on tomorrow.
03:31Hi, I'm going to go ask you about your batting one more time.
03:43The first two, I mean, the two times that we've seen a little bit of struggle for the South Africans
03:47is usually when you guys bat first.
03:49Have those conversations been going on in the team just about what the barrier has been?
03:54Is it just that, okay, you realize this is another team that can also chase it down,
03:57so you want to pile up as many runs as possible, so you try going aggressively.
04:01What have those conversations looked like, especially with Bakir and the rest of the game?
04:04Yeah, I think obviously we, I think we bat our first three times and twice didn't really go well.
04:10So we've just had a lot of discussions on sort of par scores at the ground,
04:14talked a lot about this venue and what sort of a par score would be,
04:17that even if we do find ourselves in a bit of trouble early,
04:20that we're able to work towards a target.
04:23I think maybe that's what we didn't do so well in that Australia game,
04:27is sort of just, we lost wickets but then kept trying to still maybe score 350,
04:31whereas, you know, if we could have assessed and said maybe if we get 260 here,
04:35it's still game on.
04:37So, yeah, I think we just had some discussions around par scores
04:39and if it does happen that we still have a target to work towards.
04:43And, yeah, we're able to build a bit of a partnership if we do bat first and it happens.
04:47Right, and have you had some time to just look at the venue?
04:49What are you making of it, perhaps?
04:50I haven't gone to look outside yet, but in general, I think it was a little bit slower here.
04:57But, yeah, we'll see how it looks tomorrow.
05:07Laura, the fact that last time England-South Africa played a World Cup semi-final,
05:10that was in 2022, but after that, South Africa played two finals in 2003 and 2004,
05:15the T20 World Cup.
05:16Do you think handling the pressure situations in those big finals,
05:19that experience will come in handy come tomorrow in the semi-final?
05:23I hope so.
05:25I think we've had, yeah, like you said, some success in ICC tournaments.
05:29Obviously, totally different format,
05:31but that semi-final loss against England was four years ago.
05:35So, I think we're a totally different looking side.
05:38They've got a lot of different players as well.
05:40So, I think it's sort of a fresh opportunity and it starts from zero.
05:44So, yeah, I'm looking forward to the challenge
05:46and hopefully we're able to learn from those semi-final victories that we've got
Be the first to comment