Tauranga: , March 11 (IANS) South Africa’s batsman Laura Wolvaardt praised pacemaker Shabnim Ismail’s efforts in the match against Pakistan and said she was unbelievable in the final. In their second ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup league match at the Bay Oval, Pakistan needed ten from the final and Shabnim eliminated Diana Baig with a sliding catch as she raced to midfield in an incredible effort of superb athleticism. .
Shabnim was eventually named Player of the Match for her figures of three for 41 in 9.5 overs. “Shabnim was amazing in the last over, but it’s typical of her, she’s a great match player, so I wasn’t surprised that she handled the pressure the way she did. She took that ball to turn around and catch over I think overhead shots are hard enough already, so that was really good of him,” Laura said at the post-match virtual press conference.
Laura felt that the six-run holdup against Pakistan could have been a different winning margin had South Africa not missed a couple of exhausting opportunities. “I think it wasn’t ideal to miss out on those breakaways. If we got one or two of them early on, we definitely would have been in a different situation at the end. It was one of those days where everyone was missing the opportunity.” stumps and in training yesterday we hit most of them. So, it’s just one of those days and I’m glad we can still come out with the win.” In the match, South Africa went 223/9 from 50 overs with Laura as top scorer on 75 from 91 balls, her hitting tied with ten bounds. Laura, 22, was proud of how the team has managed to keep their nerves under pressure.
“We definitely would have liked, I think 20 or 30 more runs with the bat, and we knew coming off the pitch. It could possibly get a bit tight at the end there. But I think knowing we’re not playing our best cricket and still winning games tight is a good thing. I guess if we were playing our best cricket and it was still this tight, it would actually be worse. So definitely a big morale boost and hopefully we can make it less tight. Next time.” Laura was also surprised by the calm composure captain Sune Luss displayed throughout the match and she believes that the ability to remain calm will stand the team in good stead.
“We were actually surprisingly calm given the situation, especially Sune. You don’t even realize she’s actually on the cricket pitch. She looks just like when she’s off the cricket pitch. That’s how relaxed she is.” So I think that rubs off on everyone at the end of the day. That’s going to be crucial in the future, just staying calm in those big moments.”