Proteas unfazed by quick turnaround, says captain Wolvaardt

With just 10 days between tours, Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt is confident the national women’s team will be ready to face New Zealand after returning home from Pakistan.

The SA side’s first ever tour of Pakistan came to a close on Thursday, with the Proteas having produced mixed results during their visit.

After losing 3-0 in the T20 series, they bounced back to win the ODI campaign 2-1, taking a step forward on the road to qualifying for the 2025 World Cup, with the series forming part of the ICC Women’s Championship.

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In the ODI series, Maizanne Kapp (150) and Sune Luus (127) topped the run-scoring charts, while Nadine de Klerk (eight scalps) was the leading wicket taker over the three matches.

And while they lost the last game of their tour, both their ODI victories were convincing, ensuring they stood up and delivered when it counted.

They had little time to celebrate their series victory, however, with a short turnaround ahead of the first of three ODI matches against New Zealand starting next weekend.

Wolvaardt, who was appointed interim captain for both tours, admitted the New Zealanders would offer an entirely different challenge to their recent hosts.

New conditions

“I don’t think the turnaround is too short. We’ve had quite a long layoff since we last played in the T20 World Cup (in March) so I’m definitely welcoming all the cricket we’re getting to play,” Wolvaardt said.

“But the conditions will be very different (against New Zealand) and we have a travel aspect to the tour as well because we’ll be moving around South Africa quite a bit, whereas here we were just based at one venue (Karachi).

“So it will require a lot of adapting to different venues and conditions, compared to what we experienced here (in Pakistan).”

Following a short break, however, the skipper believed the Proteas would be geared up and ready to hit their straps on home soil.

“We’re looking forward to two or three days at home, just refreshing, and then we’ll have to sit down and analyse New Zealand, and see how we go about it.”