Laura Wolvaardt (Getty Images)
There’s no doubting the class of Proteas opener Laura Wolvaardt but she has really taken the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup by storm.
Wolvaardt has been a mainstay at the top of the order for Sune Luus’s charges, bringing a calmness to proceedings whenever she is at the crease.
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That’s not to mention the fact that she’s piled on the runs too, topping the scoring charts after the group stages on 433 runs with a top score of 90 and five fifties in seven innings at an average of 61.85.
Australian captain Meg Lanning is in second place in terms of runs scored with 358, 75 runs off Wolvaardt’s total.
Wolvaardt now averages 46.26 in her 73 one-day international for South Africa, and while she showed talent from the moment she made her debut as a 16-year old back in 2016, there’s no doubt her game has continued to improve.
Blessed with a stellar off-side game, particularly her cover drive, which is straight out of the MCC coaching manual, Wolvaardt’s batting prowess has grown, and she now scores freely all around the wicket and very rarely gets bogged down.
Her power game has evolved significantly as well, and she is a regular at the Big Bash T20 competition in Australia as well as the Hundred, a format that made its debut last year.
Now into the knock-out stages of the competition, the Proteas will be hoping that Wolvaardt can keep her run spree going as they face England on Thursday.
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