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South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt on Sunday (November 2) broke the record for the most runs in a single edition of the Women’s World Cup. With 510 runs (at the time of writing), she went past Australia skipper Alyssa Healy, who scored 509 runs in the 2021 Women’s World Cup in New Zealand.
Wolvaardt and Healy are the only two players to score more than 500 runs in an edition of the tournament. The elegant right-hander has progressively gotten better in the tournament. She started with a five-run knock in the team’s tournament opener against England, which turned out to be the only single-digit score for her.
The next six innings saw three fifty-plus scores, including a 90 against Pakistan. She reached a new peak at the biggest stage before the final,
smashing a record 169 against England in the semi-final.
Most runs in a single edition of the ICC Women’s World Cup:
| Player | Country | M | Innings | Not Outs | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Balls Faced | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s | Ducks | Fours | Sixes | Tournament |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laura Wolvaardt | South Africa Women | 9* | 9* | 2 | 510* | 169 | 72.85* | 514* | 99.01 | 1 | 3 | – | 66 | 7 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in India/Sri Lanka), 2025/26 |
| Alyssa Healy | Australia Women | 9 | 9 | – | 509 | 170 | 56.55 | 491 | 103.66 | 2 | 2 | – | 69 | 1 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in New Zealand), 2021/22 |
| Rachael Haynes | Australia Women | 9 | 9 | 1 | 497 | 130 | 62.12 | 602 | 82.55 | 1 | 3 | – | 57 | 1 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in New Zealand), 2021/22 |
| Debbie Hockley | New Zealand Women | 7 | 7 | 1 | 456 | 100* | 76.00 | 710 | 64.22 | 2 | 2 | – | 43 | 1 | Hero Honda Women’s World Cup (in India), 1997/98 |
| Leah Reeler | Australia Women | 8 | 8 | 5 | 448 | 143* | 149.33 | 147+ | 40.13 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4+ | – | Shell Bicentennial Women’s World Cup (Australia, England, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand in Australia), 1988/89 |
| Debbie Hockley | New Zealand Women | 9 | 9 | 2 | 446 | 90* | 63.71 | – | – | – | 5 | – | – | – | Shell Bicentennial Women’s World Cup (Australia, England, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand in Australia), 1988/89 |
| Belinda Clark | Australia Women | 7 | 5 | 2 | 445 | 229* | 148.33 | 467 | 95.28 | 1 | 2 | – | 42 | 0 | Hero Honda Women’s World Cup (in India), 1997/98 |
| Nat Sciver-Brunt | England Women | 9 | 8 | 2 | 436 | 148* | 72.66 | 469 | 92.96 | 2 | 1 | – | 47 | 1 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in New Zealand), 2021/22 |
| Smriti Mandhana | India Women | 9* | 9 | 1 | 434 | 109 | 54.25 | 438 | 99.08 | 1 | 2 | – | 50 | 9 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in India/Sri Lanka), 2025/26 |
| Laura Wolvaardt | South Africa Women | 8 | 8 | – | 433 | 90 | 54.12 | 557 | 77.73 | – | 5 | 1 | 46 | 0 | ICC Women’s World Cup (in New Zealand), 2021/22 |
South Africa need 299 runs to win
Shafali Verma’s fluent 87 and Smriti Mandhana’s 45 set up India’s innings in the summit clash. Despite a strong start, regular wickets halted momentum. Deepti Sharma’s 58 and Richa Ghosh’s late burst lifted India to 298/7, as South Africa’s bowlers fought back on a slowing pitch.
