South African skipper Laura Wolvaardt believes the Protea women cannot afford to carry the baggage of their demolition job by England in the ICC Women`s World Cup league game on Friday, October 4. England`s spinners were right on top of South Africa as the latter were bundled out for just 69 runs. The England batters then made light work of the chase and made a huge dent in South Africa`s net run rate.
Wolvaardt credited the England bowlers, especially Linsey Smith, for her accuracy and felt that it was just one of those off days for her side. She is still optimistic about South Africa`s chances of getting out of the league phase with their next game against New Zealand in Indore on Monday, October 6.
Stressing the importance of forgetting the match against England, here`s what Laura Wolvaardt had to say after the game, as quoted by ICC:
“I think (England) bowled really well, I think there was a lot of swing around early, I think Linsey Smith was excellent with the new ball, I think it was just one of those days with the bat where the top order failed and the middle order failed on the same day. I think we are much, much better than 69 all out. I think as a group, we just need to put it behind us as quickly as we can and move forward, because if we`re going to take that into the next game, it`s going to be a very long tournament for us. I think each and every one of us knows that we are much better than `69 all out. I think we individually want to score more than `69. So, it`s just a day that we need to forget as quickly as we can and really move on and keep doing our processes, keep sticking to our preparation for the next game.”
Laura Wolvaardt feels that just one bad game cannot decide how good or bad their side is and is confident of her team bouncing back from the disappointment against England.
Not the ideal way to start the tournament, but I do think that we have shown some resilience with the bat in the last 18 months, and I`m sure that we will bounce back and come back better in the rest of the competition. The opportunity that we have to possibly make semis and a final and win a tournament like this is absolutely amazing for all those young girls back at home to see us play on the global stage,” she concluded.