South Africa women’s skipper Laura Wolvaardt on Monday praised her team for showing 'grit and determination' despite their 10-wicket hammering by India in the one-off Test here. (More Cricket News)
South Africa were outplayed right on Day One with India piling up the highest score in a day’s play in women’s Tests of 525/4, eventually declaring at 603/6 for the highest-ever score.
The visitors, who were shot out for a mere 266 in the first innings, put up a strong fight in the second after being asked to follow-on as they forced India bat again on the final day even though they could only manage a slender lead of 36 runs.
"To lose is a bit disappointing, but the character shown by the group over the last two days has been absolutely amazing,” Wolvaardt told the media here after the match.
"The grit and determination of this group were amazing and it will do a lot of good for us," she added.
Wolvaardt hit a 314-ball 122 while Sune Luus cracked 109 as South Africa fought valiantly to delay the inevitable.
"To concede more than 500 runs on Day One, I don't think many would have thought for the match to go to the final session of Day Four. We tried to show a bit more intent in the first innings and get closer to the score, but their spinners were accurate,” Wolvaardt said.
"In the second (innings), we thought to stretch it out and bat as deep as we could. My goal was to bat throughout the day (on Day 3), along with that big partnership with Sune,” she added.
Reiterating the point she made before the start of the match that South Africa players lacked practice of playing with the red ball, Wolvaardt said she was pleased with the effort.
"The number of balls they (South Africa batters) faced today, mostly being white-ball players and taking the innings deep down was amazing,” she said.
Wolvaardt and Luus were also involved in a 190-run partnership for the second wicket.
"(It was) very special. She batted brilliantly. I was struggling to score at the strike rate of 20 and then she came and started whacking them over the top.
"Her bravery and execution in the innings was amazing. She picked the balls perfectly, attacked them, and showed a lot of patience. She is seen as a reliable player, quite explosive in T20s. To see her knuckle down in both innings was very impressive,” Wolvaardt said.
Wolvaardt also commended Nadine de Klerk for her all-round show.
"She is an absolute great player to have on my team. The character and fight she shows in any game is amazing," she continued.
"The first day, we saw her fielding package, as she threw her body around and dived, besides bowling 10 or 12 overs,” she said.
"She is just starting to show what she can do with the bat. She can really take the game away from the opposition in white ball. She also helped me a lot with the captaincy stuff," Wolvaardt said.
