South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has admitted that her side's batting is yet to fire at the Women's T20 World Cup 2026, ahead of their semi-final against hosts England at The Oval in London on Thursday, July 2. The Proteas are chasing a place in a third consecutive T20 World Cup final.
The tournament has not gone to plan for Wolvaardt personally either. The right-hander sits fourth among South Africa's run-getters at the event and 25th overall, with Tazmin Brits striking an unbeaten hundred against
the Netherlands and Marizanne Kapp playing a match-winning knock against India. Wolvaardt herself managed a 36-ball 45 against the Dutch side and a first-ball duck against Bangladesh.
Speaking on the eve of the game on Wednesday, July 1, the Proteas skipper backed her batters to peak at the right time.
"With the bat, we probably haven't been at 100%. 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," Wolvaardt said, as quoted by Cricinfo.
What has gone wrong for Laura Wolvaardt?
The dip is a puzzle because the opener arrived at the tournament in the form of her life. In the five-match home series against India two months ago, which South Africa won 4-1, she made three fifties, including an unbeaten 92, and a hundred.
"I'm 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," Wolvaardt said.
She insisted the problem is a matter of mindset rather than technique.
"It's not like I've forgotten how to bat. It's just maybe one or two things haven't gone my way and then got a bit frustrated in the middle. I need to stay nice and calm tomorrow and maybe one or two nice shots and then I'm back," Wolvaardt added.
Can South Africa beat England in a World Cup knockout again?
South Africa have won their last two World Cup knockout meetings with England, in the semi-finals of the 2023 T20 World Cup and the 2025 ODI World Cup, and reached the final on both occasions. The second semi-final begins at 6:30 PM local time (11:00 PM IST) on Thursday, July 2, with the winner facing Australia in the final at Lord's.
