Laura Wolvaardt. (Photo Source: Alex Davidson-ICC/ICC via Getty Images)
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt completed 6000 runs in white-ball cricket against England in the ongoing Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. In ODI cricket, the 25-year-old has amassed 4148 runs in 98 games at an average of 49.38, while in T20Is, the youngster has made 1866 runs in 74 appearances. In all, she has 6014 runs in limited-overs cricket as of today.
In the game against England, Wolvaardt gave a good start to South Africa but failed to capitalize. She played an unbeaten knock of 59 runs in the last game against West Indies and looked to be in sublime form once again but couldn’t convert her start this time around. The opener made 42 runs off 39 deliveries as South Africa posted 124 runs in the first innings in Sharjah.
Senior all-rounder Marizanne Kapp did reasonably well with the bat, scoring 26 runs off 17 deliveries while Annerie Dercksen played an important cameo of 20* runs off 11 balls to help South Africa post a challenging total. Meanwhile, with the ball, England’s Sophie Ecclestone picked up two wickets, giving away just 15 runs in her four overs. Sarah Glenn was sensational as well, conceding only 18 runs in four overs and also picked up the wicket of Anneke Bosch.
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When it came to the chase, England got the job done pretty comfortably. They lost Maia Bouchier early but Danni Wyatt-Hodge and Nat Sciver-Brunt stitched a brilliant partnership to get the job done. Danni particularly couldn’t finish things off, as she departed scoring 43 runs but the veteran all-rounder Sciver-Brunt stayed till the end, scoring 48 runs off 36 deliveries and helping England pick up their second win in the tournament.
They are currently at the top of the Group B points table. All the other teams except Scotland – that are West Indies, South Africa, and Bangladesh have managed to pick up one win each as the race for the top two is getting intense. Meanwhile, England would be confident of winning their remaining two matches against Scotland and West Indies to qualify for the semis.