‘The top order and middle order failed,’ says Wolvaardt

“We are much, much better than 69 all out,” Laura Wolvaardt stated after South Africa’s horrendous start to the 13th edition of the Women’s Cricket World Cup on Friday.

The Proteas captain refused to blame coaches, the team’s preparation or the pitch at the Assam Cricket Association stadium in Guwahati where England claimed an easy 10-wicket win.

There were high hopes for Wolvaardt’s team, but getting bowled out for 69 in 20.4 overs was not the kind of message they wanted to send to supporters back home or to rivals in the tournament.

“The top order and the middle order failed on the same day. It happens sometimes, everyone got out early. It’s not a wicket that was foreign to us. We’ve spent a lot of time in these conditions in the last few months. It’s not because of the wicket.”

It’s as a result of the team’s preparation in the last few months that included tours to Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, that the Proteas went into the tournament believing that weaknesses against spin were a thing of the past.

The problem on Friday wasn’t spin however, but the movement through the air that England’s left-arm slower bowler Linsey Smith achieved, allowing her to claim 3/7 in four overs.

Wolvaardt was one of her victims. It was a dismissal the Proteas captain described as “soft” when she chipped the second ball she faced from Smith back to the bowler. The in-form Tazmin Brits was all at sea, missing a ball that drifted into her and knocked back her leg-stump, and Marizanne Kapp suffered the same fate, though it was her middle stump that was pegged back.

All three, along with Sune Luus who was bowled by the seamer Lauren Bell, Anneke Bosch who was trapped lbw by England captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, Chloe Tryon who was caught off a leading edge and Masabatha Klaas, were rooted to the crease.

“We just didn’t apply ourselves well with the bat,” said Wolvaardt.

“You can’t fault the preparation, we tried to cover all bases in training. We’ve been very well informed by all our coaches, our plans were decent as well, it’s just one of those days where we played the wrong line against the ball swinging in.”

Smith, who was named player of the match, said she’d been informed the previous day that she’d been opening the bowling, with England’s coach Charlotte Edwards having picked up a weakness the Proteas openers had against slower bowlers. “I’m not your most traditional spinner. I think I’m not going to get the turn and bounce that Sophie (Ecclestone) gets,” said Smith.

“The conversations I had with Nat and Lottie was just about backing what I’ve done well over the years in domestic cricket. And that’s more often than not, to try and hit the stumps and put a lot of pressure on the batters that way.”

Wolvaardt stressed that it was important that Friday’s performance doesn’t linger with her players. “It’s just a day that we need to forget as quickly as we can and really move on, keep doing our processes and keep sticking to our preparation for the next game.”

That next match is against New Zealand on Monday. “It’s never nice losing your first game. But I think, with a game like this we want to park it as quickly as we can and move onto that New Zealand match. That’s what we’re going to have to do,” said Wolvaardt.