Zaahier Adams
Proteas Women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt may not have had the pleasure of lifting the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup trophy, but she has been appointed skipper of the Team of the Tournament.
Wolvaardt is one of three Proteas to have been selected alongside her opening partner Tazmin Brits and left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Wolvaardt finished as the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 223 runs at an average of 44.60, and was closely followed by Brits, who amassed 187 runs at an average of 37.40, securing second place. Mlaba, meanwhile, enjoyed a fruitful tournament with the ball, claiming 12 wickets at an average of 11.33, finishing in second place behind New Zealand’s Player of the Tournament, Amelia Kerr, who took home 15 wickets.
No South African had previously reached double figures for wickets in a single ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, but Mlaba changed that narrative. She entered the wickets column in all six matches she played, taking impressive figures of 4/29 against the West Indies and 3/12 against Scotland.
Additionally, she earned the key scalp of Tahlia McGrath in South Africa’s semi-final triumph over Australia and picked up two wickets in the final.
Wolvaardt’s selection to the T20 World Cup Team of the Tournament is just reward after a splendid past 12 months in the shortest format. The stylish opening batter has been in phenomenal form since assuming the added responsibility of leading the Proteas, striking 675 runs at an average of 45 and a strike rate of 123.40. This period also included her maiden T20I century.
The 25-year-old is certainly enjoying the dual role of captaining and batting.
“I think with the captaincy I've obviously had to do a lot more homework conditions-wise, opposition-wise, plans-wise and I think that sort of made me a bit smarter as a cricketer," said Wolvaardt following the 32-run defeat to New Zealand in the final.
“I think of what the team needs to do in order to win the game and it sort of rubs off on my batting. I'm also a little less focused on myself and my own performance.
“I think as a batter you can get very caught up in what I am scoring, what's my strike rate, what's my average, when if you're just batting to win games for the team that sort of stuff takes care of itself. So yeah, I think I'm just putting the team first and it's reflected in the stats, I guess.”
Champions New Zealand were also represented by three players apiece while stars from England, India, the West Indies, Bangladesh and Australia were also selected.
ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 – Team of the Tournament: Laura Wolvaardt (capt, SA), Tazmin Brits (SA), Danni Wyatt-Hodge (ENG), Amelia Kerr (NZL), Harmanpreet Kaur (IND), Deandra Dottin (West Indies), Nigar Sultana (wk, BAN), Afy Fletcher (West Indies), Rosemary Mair (NZL), Megan Schutt (AUS), Nonkululeko Mlaba (SA), 12th player – Eden Carson (NZL)