Guwahati, Oct 3 (IANS) England’s senior batter have identified South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt as the key threat ahead of the two teams opening their 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup campaign at the ACA Stadium.

Since the time Laura became South Africa’s captain, she has been a key figure in their batting charge alongside fellow opener Tazmin Brits.

“South Africa is a very good team. We obviously played them recently in a series in South Africa and had some success, but they’ve got some brilliant players. I think they’ve done really well under Laura’s (Wolvaardt) captaincy.”

“She’s a calm leader, and I think her batting has gone to another level since she’s been captain. She’s going to be a key player for them. Hopefully, we can keep her quiet, but we know we will have to perform very well. It’s going to be a tough test first up,” sad Heather on JioStar.

Captain Nat Sciver-Brunt echoed the same sentiment and stressed on the importance of taking out Laura early in the innings. “Laura Wolvaardt is such a big player for South Africa; if you let her get going, it’s very difficult to get her out. So, we’ll be putting our plans in place for her.”

“Obviously, they’ve had a very good opening partnership in the last series they played, so it will be important for us to get their wickets early, and hopefully we can do that,” she said.

Similar views were expressed by left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, who has faced Laura across formats in international cricket and franchise T20 leagues. “Laura Wolvaardt is the player to watch out for. I’ve bowled a lot recently against her, including in a Test match against South Africa.”

“Getting her out is massive, as they rely heavily on her to score runs. They’ve obviously got great all-rounders now, but Wolvaardt is still central to their batting. Hopefully, we can get her out early. I’m hoping one of the seamers gets her rather than me! But it’s really exciting to come up against her,” she said.

–IANS

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