After three consecutive scores in the 60s and 70s, SA opener Laura Wolvaardt is still searching for a maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup century.
She is hoping coming up against the only other unbeaten side in the competition, Australia, on Tuesday (starts midnight SA time, 11am in New Zealand) will be the perfect motivation to do it.
SA have the chance to join Australia in booking their place in the semifinals with a victory, tie or no-result at Wellington’s Basin Reserve, and their in-form opener is relishing the occasion.
“It [a century] is something I've thought about,” Wolvaardt said.
“It's not nice going out three times in the 70s or 60s and not quite getting to the 100 when I r want to score 100 in a World Cup.
“But I guess it's not the worst problem to have either. I could be sitting here with four ducks or something like that.
“It’s obviously a bit frustrating and if I find myself in that situation again I might just take a bit of extra focus or an extra second before I face the ball to make sure I'm watching properly. Hopefully it comes right next game.”
SA have the chance to defeat Australia for the first time in ODI cricket and Wolvaardt will not be too overawed by coming up against the highest-ranked side in the competition.
“Australia, obviously, are a world-class side. They're number one in the world. It's not a game that we're going to take lightly at all,” she said.
Proteas’ on-form Laura Wolvaardt: I want a World Cup century
After three consecutive scores in the 60s and 70s, SA opener Laura Wolvaardt is still searching for a maiden ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup century.
She is hoping coming up against the only other unbeaten side in the competition, Australia, on Tuesday (starts midnight SA time, 11am in New Zealand) will be the perfect motivation to do it.
SA have the chance to join Australia in booking their place in the semifinals with a victory, tie or no-result at Wellington’s Basin Reserve, and their in-form opener is relishing the occasion.
“It [a century] is something I've thought about,” Wolvaardt said.
“It's not nice going out three times in the 70s or 60s and not quite getting to the 100 when I r want to score 100 in a World Cup.
“But I guess it's not the worst problem to have either. I could be sitting here with four ducks or something like that.
“It’s obviously a bit frustrating and if I find myself in that situation again I might just take a bit of extra focus or an extra second before I face the ball to make sure I'm watching properly. Hopefully it comes right next game.”
SA have the chance to defeat Australia for the first time in ODI cricket and Wolvaardt will not be too overawed by coming up against the highest-ranked side in the competition.
“Australia, obviously, are a world-class side. They're number one in the world. It's not a game that we're going to take lightly at all,” she said.
“I guess we need to see it as a normal game, though, watch the ball one ball at a time.
“We can't go out there playing the player, [we’ve] still [got to] just play the ball. I don't think we've ever beaten them in ODI, so I think it's a great opportunity to do that. We'll have to be on the top of our game.”
SA will be without Masabata Klaas after she failed to recover from a shoulder injury picked up in SA’s win against New Zealand.
While the Proteas will be forced into a least one change, Australia’s Beth Mooney revealed they will look to play their best team despite already having qualified.
“Towards the back end of this competition, you want to gather as much momentum as you can leading into the semis and then potentially a final,” Mooney said.
“We've shown we've got the depth in this squad to make sure we're pushing the letter a bit and competing against world-class teams.
“Tomorrow will be no different for us. I'm sure we’ll put our best team out in the park even though we have locked in that semifinal game.
“We want to make a huge statement leading into that semifinal as well, so I'm sure you'll see the best of the Australian team across the next two games.”
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