'It hurts, but I’m proud': Laura Wolvaardt’s heartfelt words after South Africa’s World Cup loss

South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt expressed pride in her team's Women's World Cup 2025 campaign despite losing the final to India at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. She also revealed that veteran player Marizanne Kapp would be retiring from World Cup cricket while praising India's Shafali Verma's outstanding batting performance in India's 52-run victory.

India secured their first-ever ICC Women's World Cup title by defeating first-time finalists South Africa in a clinical display.



"I could not be prouder of this team for the campaign we had. Brilliant cricket throughout, but outplayed today by India. Unfortunate to be on the losing side, but we will definitely grow from this. We did so well to put those couple of bad games behind us. We were either really good or really bad, but thankfully more of the really good. Amazing tournament for a lot of the players, and proud of the resilience we showed," Wolvaardt said after the match.

Discussing her dual role as captain and batter, Wolvaardt shared her initial struggles and subsequent adaptation. "Probably did not have my best year leading into the World Cup and did not start it well. Overthinking, it was not good. It is just another game of cricket, trying to separate the two, and that sort of freed me up a bit to play my natural game and then focus on the captaincy at a different time," she explained.

Wolvaardt commented on the match conditions and praised Shafali Verma's performance. "We were hoping for a little bit more swing. There was still something in it, so still feel it was the right call to bowl. We were in it for a lot of the chase but lost too many wickets. I kept checking Shafali. She batted excellently. That is the way she plays. When it comes off, she can really hurt teams," she said.

Speaking about Marizanne Kapp's retirement, Wolvaardt said: "She has been phenomenal for so many editions. Really sad it is going to be her last one. The whole group wanted to win it for her. She is two players in one and very happy she is on our team."

Wolvaardt herself had an exceptional tournament, scoring 101 off 98 balls in the final and finishing as the highest run-getter in a single World Cup edition with 571 runs in 9 innings at an average of 71.37.

Her World Cup career statistics now stand at 1,328 runs in 24 matches, including two hundreds and 12 half-centuries, approaching New Zealand legend Debbie Hockley's record of 1,501 runs.

Wolvaardt has set a new record for the most 50-plus scores in Women's World Cup history with 14 such innings in 24 matches, surpassing accomplished players like Mithali Raj, Debbie Hockley, and Charlotte Edwards.
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