The skipper refused to blame the wicket or the conditions for their poor performance against England.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt said the Proteas would keep their heads up in an attempt to shake off their crushing defeat in their opening match of the Women’s Cricket World Cup.
The SA team were bundled out for just 69 runs against England in Guwahati on Friday, and their opponents raced to a 10-wicket win with more than 35 overs to spare.
However, Wolvaardt felt her side had proved they could perform well with the bat, and she was confident they would be better in their second game of the tournament to be played against New Zealand in Indore on Monday.
“It’s not the ideal way to start the tournament, but I do think we have shown some resilience with the bat in the last 18 months,” Wolvaardt said.
“I’m sure we will bounce back and come back better in the rest of this competition.”
No excuses for poor performance
The skipper refused to blame the wicket or the conditions, with the Proteas having geared up for the tournament with a 2-1 series victory in Pakistan, a neighbouring country to tournament hosts India.
“I think our preparation has been good, and I don’t think there were too many demons in the pitch. It was just one of those days where everyone went out early, and that happens in cricket sometimes,” Wolvaardt said.
“If you look at the way they (England) batted, I think the wicket was alright. It’s not a wicket that we were super foreign to. We’ve spent a lot of time in these conditions the last couple of months, so I definitely wouldn’t put it on the wicket.
“I think we’re much, much better than 69 all out, but it was just one of those days. As a group we just need to put it behind us as quickly as we can and move forward because if we’re going to take that into the next game it’s going to be a very long tournament for us.”
Looking ahead
Wolvaardt was comforted by a tournament format which allowed for some slip-ups, with eight teams competing in a round-robin phase for four spots in the semifinals.
“The one nice thing is knowing we still have six other games to play (in the opening round) so there’s still a lot of time to rectify it,” she said.
