Winning the Women's World Cup is a matter of when, not if: South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt

Laura Wolvaardt and Co. will want to take a cue from the men's team, who recently won the World Test Championship (WTC) for the first time, and bring the Women's ODI World Cup back home this year. Wolvaardt has led the team from the front, scoring runs consistently across formats.

South Africa reached the semi-finals in the previous edition of the Women's ODI World Cup in 2022 under Sune Luus' captaincy. In the T20 World Cups in 2023 and 2024, the Proteas finished runners-up. Wolvaardt was the captain in the 2024 edition of the tournament, which was held in the United Arab Emirates.

South Africa would love to go the distance this year in the ODI World Cup, which will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka. The highly-anticipated tournament will be held from September 30 to November 2. South Africa, who are high on confidence after a 2-1 win against Pakistan in an ODI series in Lahore this month, will start their World Cup campaign on October 3.

Wolvaardt believes that South Africa winning the World Cup is only a matter of time. She asserted that the team has prepared well for the tournament.

“We’ve had good preparation for this tournament and learned a lot of lessons from past ICC events. In the last few ODI World Cups, we made the semi-finals. The belief is very strong on our side going into this tournament. We’d like to keep that momentum going, and we’ll have to play very good cricket in tough conditions," Wolvaardt was quoted as saying by India Today.

South Africa will play two warm-up games against Bangladesh and Pakistan at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on September 25 and 28, respectively. The Proteas will start their World Cup campaign on October 3 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. Wolvaardt admitted that painful exits, particularly the 2017 semi-final defeat, reshaped the team’s mindset.

“I remember being part of that first semi-final loss in 2017 – it really hurt the group, but it helped us see that we could compete with the best sides in the world. Qualifying for a final one day is more a question of ‘when’ and not ‘if,’” she reflected.

South Africa will rely on their experienced opening duo of Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits to provide solid starts during the global event. Brits had a sensational outing in Pakistan, scoring 101* (121) and 171* (141) in the first two ODIs at a strike rate of 103.82. Meanwhile, Wolvaardt called experienced all-rounder Marizanne Kapp among the best players to have represented South Africa. The squad also includes seasoned campaigners Sune Luus and Chloe Tryon, alongside emerging stars Nadine de Klerk and Nondumiso Shangase.

“Our middle order has really fired recently with players like Chloe Tryon, Annerie Dercksen, and Nadine de Klerk finishing games strongly. Marizanne Kapp is one of the best players South Africa has ever had – she always performs in the big moments. Nonkululeko Mlaba has also been phenomenal, and I think she will be crucial in subcontinent conditions,” Wolvaardt noted.

Wolvaardt also explained why the impending World Cup is going to be highly competitive, with strong teams waiting to make an impact.

“In these conditions, the local sides are always dangerous. We’ve seen how tough opponents like Australia and England remain, and India’s strength at home speaks for itself. Teams such as Australia, India, and New Zealand prepare meticulously — there’s simply no easy game at this level.”