Laura Wolvaardt strikes a sublime 169 to power the Proteas Women to 319 in World Cup semi

“Oh captain. My captain!” 

The legendary Walt Whitman quote could not be more apt for Proteas skipper Laura Wolvaardt.

The 25-year-old showed her class and composure to rewrite the history books with an incredible 169 off 143 balls to power the Proteas to 319/7 in the ICC Women’s World Cup semi-final against England in Guwahati on Wednesday.

Wolvaardt became the first captain to score a century in a World Cup knockout game, and she was class personified from the moment she struck the very first delivery of the innings for a sweetly-timed cover drive. 

She followed it up with another boundary, and never looked back from that moment. 

The key to her innings was also showing the game-awareness to build partnerships whenever the Proteas lost wickets in clusters. 

It began with a 116-run opening stand with Tazmin Brits (45) that set the platform before another 72-run partnership with Marizanne Kapp (43 off 33 balls) that reclaimed the momentum for the Proteas after the loss of Anneke Bosch and Sune Luus. 

Wolvaardt found her second wind after reaching her century - her first in World Cups - by targeting the leg-side to drive the Proteas closer to 300. 

Her stylish cover drive that yielded the majority of runs was now locked up as she struck the ball sweetly into the Guwahati night air for a couple of sixes over mid-wicket. In the process, she also passed 5 000 ODI runs. 

Wolvaardt’s magical innings eventually came to a close when she was caught in the deep off Lauren Bell, but none of the momentum was lost with Chloe Tryon taking over the mantle.

Tryon (33 not out off 26 balls) struck a few hefty blows towards the end with England leaking 117 runs in the final 10 overs. 

ICC Women's World Cup semi-final

South Africa: 319/7 (Wolvaardt 169, Brits 45, Kapp 42. Eccelstone 4/44)

England need 320 runs to win.