Consistency, class, and composure — Laura Wolvaardt’s record-breaking WWC 2025 campaign shows why she’s the gold standard in women’s cricket.
As Laura Wolvaardt mistimed a slog sweep off Deepti Sharma in the Women’s World Cup 2025 final, Amanjot Kaur – one of India’s sharpest fielders – charged forward and nearly turned the moment into chaos. The ball popped out twice before she finally grasped it on the third attempt. As Amanjot fell to the ground in sheer relief, her teammates erupted in celebration – they had claimed the prized wicket of South Africa’s captain, the one India had been waiting for all night.
The loud cheer at the DY Patil Sports Academy was clear to understand how crucial the wicket was. Wolvaardt walked back to the pavilion with her second successive World Cup century. From March 2021 to the beginning of this World Cup, the right-handed batter scored 1523 ODI runs at 56.40 as captain. But the question was whether she could convert her one-dimensional ODI game to a higher level.
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Laura Woolvardt’s change of ODI game plan in Women’s World Cup 2025
Coming into the competition, there were several missing puzzles in Wolvaardt’s game. She has always been an offside player and could find gaps on the ground. But she lacked the power to go over the top. In fact, before this WWC 2025, she had only 11 sixes in 110 ODIs.
Moreover, the opposition started to attack her on the leg-side with a packed off-side field. This would break her bubble most times, bringing the downfall. In 2025, she notched up only one century before the World Cup while her opening partner, Tazmin Brits, scored four. And then, the tournament began slowly for Wolvaardt with scores of five and 14 against England and New Zealand.
But her 70 against India gave the Proteas a strong platform in the chase. Against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, Wolvaardt bagged unbeaten 60 and 90 respectively. Her knock against Sri Lanka ended only because the Proteas’ target was reached, but it came in just 47 balls.
Then came the two life-changing knockout clashes of her life. Her 169-run knock against England in the semi-final brought her updated version. Three days later, her courageous 101 off 98 balls at a strike rate of over 100 in the final kept South Africa in the chase. With some support from the other batters, the story could have been different for the Rainbow Nation.
“It hasn’t been my best year in ODI cricket. It was maybe a bit too conservative or one-dimensional, so I’m really happy with the different options that I was able to bring in throughout this tournament. I scored quite a lot of leg-side runs and a few leg-side boundaries, which is something I’ve been working on: to open up different spaces, because they stack that offside and dot me up there.” The 26-year-old said at the end of the event.
No other player has bagged more runs than Wolvaardt’s 571 runs in a single edition of the Women’s ODI World Cup. She was already Proteas’ leading ODI run-scorer but reached the 5000-run mark at this tournament. She is sixth on the all-time list. If she continues to grow at this rate, the money would be on her to finish on top.
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What a wonderful campaign the South African women ran. And one day, hopefully for them, they will shed tears of joy. Privilege to watch Laura Wolvaardt and her team.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) November 2, 2025
Laura Wolvaardt’s classic semifinal and final World Cup knockout knocks
Laura Wolvaardt, along with her batting, had so many responsibilities on her shoulders after they got bundled out for 69 on their opening game of the event against England. But South Africa changed their fate with some clinical performances with both bat and ball.
They qualified for the semifinal against the same opponent at the same ground, to whom they got 69. On the back of it, the pressure was immense as they had experienced the semi-final losses in 2017 and 2022 to England.
Wolvaardt batted breezily in the semifinal, with her first fifty coming off 52 balls. However, with Brits’ dismissal, the Proteas lost three wickets for three runs. After being cautious, Wolvaardt collected her second fifty in just 63 balls, and it seemed she was going slowly. What the Proteas captain did next was extraordinary.
Her whacking shots around the park brought her another 69 runs in 28 balls, including four sixes. It could perhaps have been the knock of the tournament had Jemimah Rodrigues not stolen the limelight 24 hours later against Australia in the second semifinal.
During the final in Navi Mumbai, Wolvaardt had a different role. Chasing a target close to 300, she was never off track against India and brought her fifty in just 45 balls. The required run rate was inching close to seven. The only issue for her was the lack of support from the other end.
The Cape Town-born completed her second consecutive century in just 96 deliveries. Her eight centuries are the second most as captain in women’s ODIs after Meg Lanning’s 11 hundreds. Tired of the pressure and the environment, she finally fell for 101.
Wolvaardt’s women’s World Cup 2025 can be compared to some of the greats of the game, like what Sachin Tendulkar had in 2003. In the same way, the Mumbai-born also fell short by one step from the title. Like the former World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni, the same calm and composed skill was also present in Wolvaardt’s batting and leadership. Reaching final after final and still finishing without the trophy can be draining. But Wolvaardt believes in ‘keep reaching finals and one day winning one.’ With her words, the entire South Africa believes in their captain.
Laura Wolvaardt is one special player.
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) November 2, 2025
The kind of power she generates while driving the ball is remarkable 👏
I want to be mentioned by the jinx army. Let’s go. 🤞
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