Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 7 : South Africa's captain expressed delight and relief after her team's six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the ongoing Women's ODI World Cup on Monday.
Wolvaardt described the win as an "amazing turnaround," highlighting that it showcased her team's capabilities, which were evident despite a poor start to the tournament.
South Africa opened their account at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup with a comfortable six-wicket win over New Zealand.
"Such an amazing turnaround. I think this is what we knew that we were capable of in that first game. So we're really happy that we could put that behind us and bounced back today. (On restricting New Zealand to 231) We had an amazing last 15 (overs), we just bowled really well in that phase. Mlaba came back for her second spell and was amazing. Our death plans were really good. (On her outstanding catch to dismiss Lea Tahuhu) Just lucky and stuff. Fielding is something that we've been talking about a lot as a group. I'm glad to see that today was one of our better performances on quite a big outfield. So it was awesome. (On Brits) She's going amazing. I think she's scored 600 in the last 7 games or something. It's just phenomenal to have her in our changing room. Very glad that she's doing that and continuing it in the World Cup. Hopefully, she can keep doing it for many games to come. Enjoy tonight but then like we forgot about the first game, we need to forget about this as well. Because cricket starts at zero every time. And that's a very big game for us as well. Starting the tournament with three crucial games, so we'll need to be fully switched on. Quite a big turnaround as well. New venue too. So we'll definitely need to do our prep and come back hard," Laura Wolvaardt said.
Proteas batter Tazmin Brits expressed her delight after being named Player of the Match for her century against New Zealand. Brits attributed her success to self-belief, positivity, and batting camps that helped her expand her batting skills. Brits opened the innings alongside Laura Wolvaardt in pursuit of 232 runs.
Brits created history by scoring her fifth century of the year. Her fifth hundred in a year is the most-ever in a calendar year for the women's game. Indian opener Smriti Mandhana previously held the record, having hit four tons twice in 2024 and 2025.
She also became the fastest woman to hit 7 ODI centuries, surpassing Meg Lanning.
"It feels great. I'm glad that we could pull this one through. We definitely needed it after the first game. (On becoming the fastest woman to hit 7 ODI centuries, surpassing Meg Lanning) Funny enough, I'm not one for records, but when you mention Meg Lanning, I'm glad I'm above that one. As long as we are winning the games, then I'm all good. (Key to success) I don't actually know, I'm just backing myself a bit more. I'm trying to be as positive as I can. We actually had a lot of batting camps, I think that definitely helped. I'm trying to expand my batting a bit more and not to be one-dimension. (Today's game-plan) I just said I'm going to be as positive as possible, we needed this win, just get out, middle of all the balls. It's actually funny, it was a new bat. I haven't used it once. I think that's going to be the lucky bat from now on. (On her bow and arrow celebration) Sinalo actually interviewed us and asked what celebrations next and I actually put it out to the fans. I said, "give me your celebrations, because the 50 will only remain for my dad." And then I had these two young girls, they're 13 years old. One stays in Australia, one stays in South Africa. But they come from South Africa, and they asked me to do their celebration. So, yeah, that celebration was for them," Tazmin Brits said.
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine expressed disappointment after her team's loss to South Africa, despite considering the total of 231 to be a good score on the pitch. Devine praised South Africa's batting, particularly Brits and Luus, for negating New Zealand's efforts and playing well under pressure.
"I think even though it was a different pitch to the first game, I still thought it was a 270-280 wicket. I thought we got ourselves into a position to launch, and then we just continually lost wickets. It's hard to really have a crack at the back end when you're doing that. So, look, credit has to go to South Africa. The way they batted at the top there, they negated what we threw down at them. Disappointing for us today. I think we'd spoken about it before we even started this competition, that you're going to have to win a lot of games, and that's no different for us now. It probably puts a little bit more pressure on these remaining games, but I think that's a good thing. We know exactly where we stand and what we have to do. We'll go and reflect on this game. There were still some things that went well in both innings, but we know in this competition you can't just play half a game. So, disappointing, but there's still a long way to go in this tournament. I would enjoy it a bit more if we'd won! But yeah, I'll certainly sit down with a good mate, Batesy (Suzie Bates) later today and reflect on what's been a pretty long career. I am really grateful and humbled to have had the opportunity to pull on this shirt 300 times. It's certainly not lost on me every time I do. I just want to give my absolute best to this group and to the people back home as well," Sophie Devine said.
Proteas posted a commanding victory, chasing down the target well inside 41 overs. The partnership between Brits and Luus sealed the deal. South Africa lost a few wickets towards the end, but they always had the situation under control. The Brits' brilliant century capped off a perfect day for South Africa as they bounced back in style after that hammering against England.
NZ had won the toss and opted to bat first. At one point, SA was 44/2 and a 57-run stand for the third wicket between Devine and Georgia Plimmer (31 in 68 balls, with four boundaries), and her 86-run stand for the fourth wicket with Brooke Halliday (45 in 37 balls, with six fours) had NZ in a comfortable spot at 187/3, but Nonkululeko Mlaba (4/40) triggered a batting collapse as Kiwis slipped to 231 all out before even completing their 50 overs.
Marizanne Kaap, Ayabonga Khaka, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tyron also took a wicket.
The Proteas bounced back strongly after their 10-wicket defeat to England in the tournament opener. Meanwhile, the White Ferns have now suffered consecutive losses, having gone down to Australia in their first game.
Brief score: New Zealand Women 231/10 (Sophie Devine 85, Brooke Halliday 45; Nonkululeko Mlaba 4/45). Vs South Africa Women 234/4 (Tazmin Brits 101, Sune Luus 83; Amelia Kerr 2/62).