Women’s T20 WC: A lot of people felt this is our year – Laura after defeat in final

DUBAI: After South Africa ended up with a second-straight runners-up finish in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, a disappointed skipper Laura Wolvaardt said there was an expectation within the team about this event being theirs’ to win it, which eventually didn’t happen.

At Dubai International Stadium, South Africa failed to chase down New Zealand’s total of 158/5 in the title clash and lost by 32 runs to settle for another second-placed finish following being runners-up to Australia on home soil last year.

“Before the game, we had a discussion that we really feel this is our year. A lot of people felt that way. They had some aunt who had a feeling or had a funny tingling in their pinky finger that we were going to win.”

“That just shows that mother cricket is always in charge and has bigger plans. You can never predict what’s going to happen or write any team off. To play one of our worst games in the tournament in the final is a bit disappointing,” said Laura at the end of the final.

She also admitted to South Africa being taken aback by the fast starts New Zealand batters made with the bat. “I think we probably let them score a bit too many with the bat. They came out with some real intent and I think it sort of caught us on the back foot a little bit.”

“We thought we could sort of ride it out hopefully score a wicket or two but they sort of just kept going and rotated (the strike) really well. I think they had a really good last five or six overs where they really pushed that run rate and we were perhaps a bit off. After the Powerplay we had with the bat we thought game on but yeah just lost a bit of momentum outside the Powerplay.”

South Africa had some positives in Laura and Tazmin Brits being the tournament’s two leading run-scorers, while spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba was the second leading wicket-taker after New Zealand’s Amelia Kerr.

“It’s obviously disappointing, but I think in hindsight, we still came second in a tournament with 10-odd teams so we still had a pretty good tournament. There are a lot of positives to reflect on.”

“A younger group as well, so to be able to make the finals with a younger group I think is very promising, so there is definitely a lot to look forward to. I can’t wait to see what we do in the next couple of World Cups. Reaching two back-to-back finals as well shows that we’re doing something right,” Laura said.