They say fortune favours the brave, Proteas Women’s Captain Laura Wolvaardt is confident they can rise above the slow turning surfaces of pitches as they gear up for their tour of India, which starts with the first of the three One Day Internationals in Bengaluru in Karnataka, on Sunday, 16 June, 2024.
The Proteas are expecting the Indian side to come out guns blazing from the first match of a long tour comprised of 3 ODI’s, one Test and a 3-match T20I series, Wolvaardt relayed that the team is confident, particularly since they were successful in their previous visit to India.
“We have a good couple weeks of preparation, we also had some time at home to sort of regroup after the Sri Lanka series. I feel we have good preparation leading into this series and hopefully it all goes well.”
Proteas Women’s Captain, Laura Wolvaardt
Being one of the powerhouses in women’s cricket, going up against the formidable Indian Women’s side makes for tough challenge for South Africa, which does benefit with a few of the Proteas Women having enjoyed exposure to local conditions in the Women’s Indian Premier League.
“The Indian girls get to play a lot of cricket here in India and especially in the WIPL, which is really cool. Luckly some of us had a chance to play as well,” said Wolvaardt. “I had two games and it allowed me to get used to the conditions, which was nice. They obviously have world-class players, and we have done a lot of home work on that and looking to have our tactics sorted out by the first game.”
South African sides are typically known to struggle on the slow and turning pitches of the sub-continent, but Wolvaardt is hoping that the pitches play just as when she last batted on them.
“The Indian Women’s team is a really great team, and they have played a lot of good explosive cricket recently,” said Wolvaardt. “In the past, it has always been the spin bowling that bothered us, but now everyone is playing good cricket. It is a big challenge for us, but we are up for the challenge and hopefully we can match them.”
Ahead of the one-off Test match and the following T20I series to be played in Chennai – where the pitch is expected to be a little slower, Wolvaardt related that they have been on a changed approach counter India’s dangerous slow bowlers.
“We have been working on combatting slower spin, and just to face slow spin, because India is known for their high-quality spinners. So, it’s about facing as much of it as we can.”
By contrast, the Bangaluru pitch is expected favour the South African mindset. “This is fairly similar to pitches at home, so the training has been good.
“It is bouncy and coming off the bat really well. It is similar to what we face in Potch and Pretoria. I think it is the altitude as well,” she said.
“But you never really know what to expect at times, cause sometimes you get a wicket that is slow and turns a lot more than what we are used too, so you never really know. That obviously differs to what we used to back at home. We must be very smart in our options in terms of our batting.”
The South African captain also addressed the fact of the team facing their first big tour in the absence of former Head Coach, Hilton Moreeng: “Nothing has really changed too much from an operational point of view,” said Wolvaardt in a vote of confidence in interim Head Coach Dillon du Preez and his team.
“We still try to keep things as much as the same as before. The new additions that we have in the group have brought a lot of outside energy and knowledge as well. It’s been good and I’ve really enjoyed the new fresh people.”
South Africa needs to be playing their best team on the day, one can never underestimate the Indian side. They are a world class side and the Proteas needs to be at their best to beat them. Trying to get everyone settled into their roles before the World Cup is also key.
“There is a lot going on, with the ODI points up for grabs and the T20’s are in prep for the World Cup and the Test Match is special too. I think we have tried to cover everything. There is no format that is more important than the other. We would like to do well all round and we are not taking any format lightly,” the SA skipper said.
“It is very significant and very special to get to be here and get to play a Test Match in India. Not many South African cricketers have gotten that opportunity.”
“Obviously not sure what to expect. I’ve never been to Chennai before, the play against spin will be crucial,” concluded Wolvaardt. “Will be nice to see how we play and adapt to spin over long periods of time. And I’m very excited for it.”
Proteas Women ODI and Test Squad – Outbound Tour to India (16 June – 9 July)
Laura Wolvaardt (Captain) (Fidelity Titans)
Anneke Bosch (Fidelity Titans)
Tazmin Brits (DP World Lions)
Nadine de Klerk (World Sports Betting Western Province)
**Annerie Dercksen (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers)
**Mieke de Ridder (Six Gun Grill Garden Route Badgers)
Sinalo Jafta (DP World Lions)
Marizanne Kapp (World Sports Betting Western Province)
Ayabonga Khaka (DP World Lions) (ODI Squad Only)
Masabata Klaas (Fidelity Titans)
Suné Luus (Fidelity Titans)
*Eliz-Mari Marx (Fidelity Titans)
Nonkululeko Mlaba (Hollywoodbets Dolphins)
Tumi Sekhukhune (DP World Lions)
*Nondumiso Shangase (Hollywoodbets Dolphins)
Delmi Tucker (World Sports Betting Western Province)
* Uncapped Test player | **Uncapped Test and ODI player
Fixtures for the Proteas Women’s Outbound Tour to India, from 16 June – 9 July 2024
One-Day Warm-Up (M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru)
Thu 13 June (10h00) Board President’s XI vs South Africa
ICC Women’s Championship One-Day International Series (M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru)
Sun 16 June (10h00) 1st IWC ODI: India vs South Africa
Wed 19 June (10h00) 2nd IWC ODI: India vs South Africa
Sun 23 June (10h00) 3rd IWC ODI: India vs South Africa
One-Off Test (M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai)
Fri 28 Jun – Mon 1 Jul (06h00) India vs South Africa
T20 International Series (M A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai)
Fri 5 Jul (15h30) 1st T20I: India vs South Africa
Sun 7 Jul (15h30) 2nd T20I: India vs South Africa
Tue 9 July (15h30) 3rd T20I: India vs South Africa
* All times are South African Standard Time (SAST)
Photo Caption: Proteas Women’s Captain Laura Wolvaardt is confident they can rise above the slow turning surfaces of pitches as they gear up for their tour of India, which starts with the first of the three One Day Internationals in Bengaluru in Karnataka, on Sunday, 16 June, 2024. Photo: Cricket SA on X
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