Not every person is cut out to open in T20s. It’s true that Laura Wolvaardt discovered it in her teens, not long after she made her stage debut in South Africa. The desire to “whack everything” would emerge from her, which was not in line with her natural style of play. In an attempt to maintain her status in the starting XI, she reverted to a middle-order role. She also changed the way she played T20s and, when the chance arose once more, she took back the opening position at the beginning of 2023.
Despite the initial sadness of being rejected at auction, Wolvaardt overcame it by scoring three straight half-centuries and leading South Africa to their first-ever World Cup final on home soil. The five think-tanks at the Women’s Premier League, however, chose to overlook her. Two weeks later, Gujarat Giants called with an SOS. Beth Mooney, the injured captain of the Giants, was the player she would be replacing.
Due to a calf injury that kept him out of the competition on the first night, Mooney was lucky to be signed by the team and return as captain for the second season. As a result, Wolvaardt, who was also kept after recording two half-centuries in the first three games of the previous season, was benched by the Giants. This was partly due to a string of injuries that disrupted their bowling unit and, consequently, their starting lineup. Following two defeats to start their WPL 2024 season, Wolvaardt received another SOS.
Following two unsuccessful pairings in those losses, Mooney left with Wolvaardt as her third new opening partner, and the two hit it off right away. Even though their partnership was limited to a solid 40 laps on a slower Bengaluru track, the management saw enough potential in the duo to put their trust in them and lock down the combination. With Wolvaardt, the aggressor, setting the tone with a scorching 76, the duo validated the call in the Giants’ Delhi debut by putting together the team’s highest opening stand of 140 to deflate the high-flying RCB and secure their first win of the season.
During her hour-long stay at the crease, Wolvaardt delighted the approximately 5,000 spectators with her exquisite strokeplay, which commenced with a couple of exquisite flicks off Sophie Devine freebies on the pads. Sophie Molineux made mistakes in her lines and provided enough space for the South African to settle in and unleash her signature drives. While a few bowlers were blasted over their heads into the ropes, Georgia Wareham’s elegant cover drive to bring her into the attack was the highlight of the evening. Wolvaardt rocked back to pull one past deep midwicket after Asha Shobhana also started with a loosener, upsetting the legspinner early.
As RCB fumbled for replies, Ellyse Perry took the brunt of an on-song Wolvaardt who welcomed her into the attack with a hat-trick of boundaries. The first was a length ball outside off, a short-arm jab past mid-on. After hitting an off-cutter for a 32-ball half-century past Perry, she skillfully cut a short and wide pitch past third man to elevate the Giants to their first-ever century partnership in the competition’s brief history. Wolvaardt hit 13 fours in all, splattering the ball all over the pitch and sabotaging the RCB attack.
The Giants were doubly delighted when Mooney gradually relinquished her role as the accumulator and decelerated to record her first fifty. It was an amazing way for GG to stamp her class in a format and role Wolvaardt has only recently warmed-up to, coming from the bench to inspire the team’s first win, their biggest total, the second-best partnership of all time, and to record GG’s first half-century of the season. Up until the unlucky run-out that denied her a chance at another tournament first, she did it all with a smile.
With a huge smile on her face, Mooney, the nearly equal contributor in the 140 stand who also took the monkey off her back with her first WPL victory as captain, praised her new opening partner at GG for giving the team the early advantage.
She is among the most pleasant individuals in the earth. So she’s incredibly easy to talk to,” Mooney remarked of Wolvaardt and their collaboration that broke records. From a distance, of course, I haven’t played much cricket with her previously, but I really like the way she approaches the game. Gujarat has stuck with me and helped me succeed, so perhaps I’ve helped her as much as she’s helped me. After winning the Player of the Match award for her flawless 51-ball 85, which finally placed GG on the scoreboard, she continued, “I thought she was outstanding tonight and certainly set the tone for us.”
Before her first game of the 2024 season, Wolvaardt spoke with Cricbuzz about how she’s only recently made an effort to continue learning from every opportunity and taking the time spent on the sidelines in her stride.
It has been truly remarkable to go from not even being a part of the WPL at first to being dragged in at the last minute and then being retained for the season. I’m quite happy that I was given the chance to come here in the first place. You see, I don’t really care if I don’t play. I’m content to be here, where I can continue to work with some of the best coaches in the world while learning what I can. If I don’t play, I’m just attempting to learn everything I can from the nets, and if I do, I intend to take advantage of that chance.
“It’s been enlightening for me, indicating that there are still aspects of my game that require improvement.” In the long term, it’s a really healthy thing to generate some competition and keep battling for the spots, as the 24-year-old South African skipper had stated. Sometimes you might grow used to being a mainstay pick for too long.
Perhaps Wolvaardt is the epitome of a nerd. Since she decided to postpone her ambitions to attend medical school, she has no time for music off the pitch and is always carrying her books for the online scientific degree she is completing. Her technically sound batting on the pitch is evidence of her good student attitude. But despite the most visually appealing shots she offered, the South African opener ultimately set the terms. and, without necessarily meaning to, made a powerful statement in the process.
