A packed DY Patil Stadium, an expectant Indian public and one match left to decide the champions – South Africa’s captain Laura Wolvaardt knows the setting could hardly be tougher. She also believes it hands her side an opening.
“I think [with] the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold-out stadium, it’s going to be a very exciting opportunity,” she said on Saturday. “But at the same time, I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well. They have the whole country behind them, and sort of expect them to win. I think it sort of plays in our favour, hopefully.”
Key facts first
• Final: India v South Africa, Sunday, Navi Mumbai
• South Africa’s first women’s ODI World Cup final
• India chasing a maiden title on home soil
• Forecast: hot, humid, full house
Pressure, expectation and experience
The Proteas have reached the last two T20 World Cup finals without lifting the trophy. Wolvaardt calls those losses useful rather than scarring. “I think for me, personally, I’m really trying not to think about the result,” she admitted. “I think in those finals – or the first time I was in the final – you automatically think about the trophy and think about winning, and sort of get excited. Now I’m just really trying to stay [in the] present.”
Cricket writer Firdose Moonda summed up the outside view earlier in the week: “The pressure is less on South Africa.” Wolvaardt accepts the sentiment yet wants her team to stay busy rather than relaxed. “Mandla [Mashimbyi, South Africa head coach] normally does the really inspirational stuff, the ‘you’re carrying your country’ type of thing,” she smiled. “And then I think I’d just come with a little ‘stay calm, girls’ at the end.”
Form guide – bumpy but improving
South Africa’s route to Sunday has zig-zagged: bowled out for 69 by England, five straight wins, then folded for 97 against Australia before recovering to beat England in a gripping semi-final. Wolvaardt’s 169 and Marizanne Kapp’s five-for did most of that heavy lifting.
“I think we don’t just lose our skill or gain our skill overnight. It’s definitely just a couple of games that we had to put behind us, and we were able to bounce back really well from those two games on both occasions,” the captain reflected. Acknowledging batting collapses without dwelling on them, she added, “I think if we focus too much on that, then it wouldn’t have been a good campaign for us. So I think we took the learnings, put it behind us.”
India’s strengths – and a possible fault-line
India arrive unbeaten, armed with a varied spin attack and a top order that has scored quickly all month. Home conditions, though, can cut both ways. Former India opener Anju Jain believes the hosts must start well: “If South Africa get early wickets, the crowd will go quiet and the nerves jump straight back into the dressing-room.”
Strategy in plain language
South Africa are likely to use three seamers early, hunting swing under muggy skies, then slow the pace through Kapp and Nonkululeko Mlaba once the ball softens. India may counter with wrist-spin inside the powerplay, tempting Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits into risk. Whatever the tactics, Wolvaardt insists temperament will decide it.
“There’s going to be a lot of noise, a lot happening, a lot of maybe different routines than you’re used to in a normal game. But at the end of the day, we’re going to have to do the basics for longer throughout the game, and hold the nerve for longer. I think just holding on and staying calm is going to go a long way tomorrow.”
Calmness is a theme she revisits. “I’m trying not to think too far ahead; just really sort of slow it down. I think the first time you’re in those finals, it feels like a really big, fast-paced event. We’re going to need to slow down and take a big breath, and hope we’re able to do that as a group.”
Prediction is a mug’s game, particularly in a one-day final. What is clear is that South Africa believe the weight of a billion hopes rests on the other dressing-room. If Wolvaardt’s side can keep a collective cool while the volume rises, they have a genuine chance of upsetting India on their own patch.
