(Photo ICC)
Laura Wolvaardt believes the weight of expectation on India to win the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup 2025 on home soil can work to South Africa’s advantage.
The two sides will meet in Navi Mumbai for Sunday’s global showpiece with the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy expected to be a sea of blue.
However, Wolvaardt, whose remarkable 169 laid the foundations for her country’s 125-run over England in the first semi-final, is confident her team can fly under the radar on their way to a maiden World Cup title.
“It’s going to be a very tough game with the whole crowd behind India in probably a sold-out stadium. It’s going to be a very exciting opportunity but at the same time I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well.
They have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win. Hopefully, that will play into our favour.”
Despite reaching the final, South Africa have not had things all their own way during this World Cup, bookending their group stage campaign by being bowled out for just 69 and 97 against England and Australia respectively.
But despite those batting performances which led to heavy defeats, Wolvaardt’s outfit responded in style at the first time of asking following both losses, beating New Zealand after their defeat to England before dismantling Nat Sciver-Brunt’s charges in the last four straight after failing to make three figures against the defending champions.
“Coming back from those games [was more of] a mental switch than something we’ve done in training,” Wolvaardt continued.
“We don’t just lose our skill or gain our skill overnight. [They were} definitely just a couple of games that we had to put behind us, and we were able to bounce back really well from those two games on both occasions.
“[Head coach] Mandla [Mashimbyi] has been awesome with that. We’ve taken the positives and taken the learnings out of those games while at the same time, we haven’t dwelled on the 69 all out. I think if we had focused too much on that, it wouldn’t have been a good campaign for us.”
Wolvaardt also paid tribute to teammate Marizanne Kapp for her exploits in getting South Africa to the final.
The 35-year-old is South Africa’s joint-leading wicket taker at this World Cup with 12 and her return of five for 20 – which included two wickets in the opening over – was pivotal in ensuring England got nowhere near their target of 320 on Wednesday.
“[Kapp] is probably one of the hardest workers in the side, probably hits the most balls, does the most prep, which is saying something for how good she is,” added Wolvaardt, who is the competition’s leading run scorer with 470. “She probably doesn’t need to do half of that work because she’s so talented.
“She’s two players in one. I think she could probably play for any side in the world as a batter or as just a bowler. We’re very lucky to have her and then experience wise, she obviously has all the knowledge in the world.”
However, Harmanpreet Kaur insists India will be “fully charged up” as her side chase a historic maiden triumph.
Jemimah Rodrigues struck a sensational unbeaten 127, which, alongside her captain’s 89, ensured India chased down a women’s ODI world-record target of 339 to defeat seven-time world champions Australia in the semi-finals.
And after South Africa’s dominant 125-run victory over England in the first of the semi-finals, it means there will be a new winner of the game’s biggest prize – with it also being the first ever final not to feature either Australia or England.
India have twice reached the global showpiece, losing comfortably to Australia in 2005 before narrowly missing out against England by nine runs at Lord’s eight years ago.
But Kaur believes the pain of coming up short in the past will be a key driver in her country’s quest to deliver success in front of what will be a rapturous home crowd in Navi Mumbai.
“We know how it feels to lose, but we are really looking forward to see how it feels after we win,” she said. “Hopefully, this day tomorrow will be special for us. We will give our best and play our best cricket. It’s about giving everything tomorrow for the team.
“Playing the final match of the World Cup, I don’t think there can be a bigger motivation than this.
“The entire team is fully charged up. They are standing with each other and are giving each other prayers and blessings. That shows how much this team is with each other and how ready we are for this match.”
India only confirmed their place in the knockout stage by beating New Zealand in their penultimate group stage match, having previously lost to all three of Australia, England and South Africa – the competition’s three other semi-finalists.
However, Kaur explained her team was never worried by the prospect of having to beat two teams they had previously lost to in order to be crowned world champions, and pointed to team unity as a crucial factor in their progress.
She continued: “We didn’t shake up the team once, even though we had three big losses. After that everyone was together, and we were all saying that we still have a great opportunity to reach the final.
“That positive mindset has helped us reach the final. Some teams win; some lose. But at the end of the day, it’s about how we reach the end.”
While India will be contesting their third final, South Africa will be in their first, but Kaur won’t be taking the Proteas, who beat them earlier in the tournament courtesy of Nadine de Klerk’s thrilling 84 not out, for granted.
She added: “The way they came back into this tournament, I think that’s outstanding to watch. We know that they have a good bowling attack and at the same time there is a lot of depth in their batting. But our team has also got a lot of positives.”
