Here’s the full transcript of Laura Wolvaardt before the South Africa vs England semifinal
[Reporter:]
So far, it has been probably the most open World Cup yet. So how excited are you to play the semi-finals, and how big a challenge England is going to pose at home?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, super excited. I think what’s exciting about it is we’ve made the semis and we probably haven’t even been at our best as a team yet. I think we’ve found a way to win games, which has been good. Been on the winning side more often than not. And yeah, super excited to play tomorrow. I think I know it’ll be a pretty sold-out crowd supporting the opposition, so it’ll be a nice challenge for us. But yeah, getting to play the hosts in a tournament is always pretty exciting. I think they’ll have a bit more pressure on them with all of that support, so hopefully we can put together a good game of cricket.
[Reporter:]
And looking back at the— looking back at the campaign so far, what are the things do you think that really worked for you, and maybe the areas that you may have to work a bit more on?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
I think our bowling has been pretty good. I think different phases and different games, but I think having Kapp and Shabnim up early in the power play has been a big boost for us. Been able to strike early in the power play, and then I think in the middle and death overs, we’ve been able to sort of really keep teams quiet. I think we had a number of games where even if they did get off to a decent start, we were able to bring it back nicely. With the bat, we probably haven’t been at 100%. I think all of our batters will admit they’d like to score a bit more runs, but I think it’s a good thing and a pretty exciting thing because when they do come off, hopefully in the next game, it’ll be a pretty good game.
[Reporter:]
Okay, so yeah, just a couple of— I mean, a lot of these wins that have come against Pakistan, Bangladesh, it became a little difficult towards the end. How do you sort of address that kind of a concern with the team moving into these knockouts where there might be tougher oppositions heading?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, a little bit frustrating in those games where we probably could have gotten over the line a bit easier, but I think at the end of the day we won, we got the points in the bag, and we’re moving forward. We have definitely chatted about it though, that if we do find ourselves in a similar position to maybe kill the game earlier. I think we’re blessed with a lot of power in our lineup, so we sort of have that opportunity to go a bit harder earlier. And yeah, maybe tomorrow at the Oval suits us a bit better, maybe we’re able to finish it better.
[Reporter:]
And just a curiosity about Dane, the bowler. We haven’t seen much of her. Any reason that she’s not been bowling lately?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, no, she’s not bowling at the moment. Yeah, so she’s just a batter for this tournament.
[Reporter:]
Can I just ask you about your own batting? A couple of scores in the 40s, one of them against Australia. Do you feel like you’re due for a bigger one than that in the big game?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
I hope so. Yeah, probably a bit annoyed with my tournament because I felt like I was in pretty good form coming into the competition and then had a couple of frustrating knocks, maybe just trying to hit it a bit too hard, but I guess that’s just the pressure of a World Cup. It’s hard to stay super calm and chilled, but yeah, hopefully I’m able to do it tomorrow. I think it’s not like I’ve forgotten how to bat. I think it’s just maybe one or two things haven’t gone my way and then got a bit frustrated in the middle. So I think just need to stay nice and calm tomorrow and maybe one or two nice shots and then I’m back. So yeah.
[Reporter:]
You guys are very experienced at getting through semi-finals at big tournaments now. What are you drawing from those past experiences for this one?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, I think we’ve been able to beat England twice in knockout phases in World Cups, so it’s not like it’s super foreign territory for us. I think we can sort of beat anyone on the day when we play some very good cricket. So just trying to think back to those tournaments, what we did well in those semifinals, what sort of mindset we were in. But I think this is a team that really is able to rise to the big occasions. So yeah, hopefully everyone’s at their best tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Just leading on from that, what memories do you have of that semi-final at Newlands back in 2023, and how can you kind of use that to fuel you and your team tomorrow?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, probably one of the more special games in my career. Obviously being from Cape Town, that was a really cool day. Had all my family and friends in the crowd, and to be able to make finals for the first time was super special. And yeah, our team hasn’t changed too much since then, so we’ve got a lot of people that are able to draw back on that experience. Yeah, I think it should just give us confidence knowing that we’ve done it before. So yeah, hopefully we can do it again.
[Reporter:]
And we’ve just heard from Nat Sciver-Brunt that she will be back for England tomorrow. Does that make life harder for you guys?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
I guess so. I guess as a captain, it’s always hard to plan for her. I think she’s a world-class batter and is able to hit really weird areas, and setting a field is quite hard for her. So yeah, I think we’ll just have to prep well, hopefully able to keep her quiet. But yeah, they’re a world-class side. I think it’s going to be pretty hard to plan for all of their players, but hopefully we’re able to come out on top tomorrow.
[Reporter:]
Would you be happy if Nat’s got a sub fielder if she was to get injured again tomorrow?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
I don’t know. If they are fielding first, then I wouldn’t mind because then she can’t bat. So then it’s fine.
[Reporter:]
Similar kind of parallels actually to your 50-over World Cup campaign last year where the first match was a little bit of a write-off for the team. Can you talk about, I suppose, the resilience of the group coming back from such a heavy defeat like you have done last year and now coming up at this tournament as well?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, I don’t know why we keep doing it to ourselves, starting with a really bad game. It’s something we have addressed as well. I think we like to start World Cups with a loss and then kind of put ourselves under pressure near the back end. But yeah, I think the good thing is that we find a way to show a bit of resilience and to end up making the semis. Hopefully we’re able to do that tomorrow again. But yeah, I think having won all of our games in a row after that shows a bit of consistency, which is probably what we’ve been searching for the last couple of seasons. I think we’re a side that can be quite up and down, so just to win a couple of games in a row against decent opposition was good, and hopefully able to do it for 2 more games.
[Reporter:]
And you talked about the 2023 semifinal team being quite similar to the one now 2 years on, but there’s probably an argument that the team’s a little bit stronger maybe with the death over from a batting point of view, the likes of Kayla and Nadine coming into our own. Does that feel kind of like the missing jigsaw piece in a winning South African campaign?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
I hope so. Yeah, I think you’re right. I think our bowling is pretty much the same, but we’ve got a bit more power to add to the batting. I think it’s been something that since Coach Mandla has joined has been a big focus of ours, is that power game. And we’ve done a lot of power hitting and we have a lot of young talent that are just really good at it. Like you said, Kayla, Nadine, Chloe Dirksen, I think they all just possess a lot of power naturally. So yeah, maybe that’s what we need to finally get over the line. And I think to just use it wisely, to maybe stack them throughout the innings that we’re able to keep going in all the different phases.
[Reporter:]
With the bat you had a brilliant series against the Indians back home only a few months ago. So how much would you like to carry that for maybe for the knockout stage?
[Laura Wolvaardt:]
Yeah, that would be great. Yeah, I think I just need to maybe have a think over the next 24 hours of what went well for me back then. Obviously it’s so recent, it’s not like my batting has changed. It’s probably just a bit of a mindset thing. So yeah, I think hopefully I’m able to channel a bit of that against England tomorrow.
