Proud Of The Resilience We Showed To Make It To Final, Says Laura Wolvaardt

South Africa Women: South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardts century went in vain but she was proud of her side to finish as runners-up against India in the Womens World Cup final at DY Patil Stadium on Sunday night. India defeated South Africa by 52 runs to lift their maiden Womens World Cup title. Chasing 299, Wolvaardt (101) led from the front with a magnificent century but lacked support as wickets fell regularly at the other end. Deepti Sharma was the standout performer with the ball, finishing with superb figures of 5/39 while Shafali Verma and Sree Charani chipped in with key wickets to seal a historic win for India. It's unfortunate to be on the losing side today, but Im sure well definitely grow from this as a group. I think we did so well to put those couple of bad games behind us. We were either really good or really bad, but thankfully there was a lot more really good throughout this tournament. There were so many different players stepping up. Its been an amazing tournament for a lot of them, and Im just really proud of the resilience we showed to make it all the way to the final, Proteas captain said in the post-match presentation. I probably didnt have my best year leading into the World Cup, and I didnt start this tournament too well either. Maybe I was overthinking things early on. So I just tried to separate the two - the captaincy and the batting - and that freed me up towards the back end to play my natural game and then focus on leadership separately. We were hoping for a little bit more early on, but I still think it was the right call. There was something in the wicket. We stayed in the chase for a long time - just lost a few too many wickets at key stages, that was brilliant. I kept checking the scoreboard and they were definitely tracking for 350. That back-end bowling effort was amazing. Weve been really good at closing out innings throughout the tournament. I think 300 was about par on that wicket, and we genuinely believed we could chase it. Definitely. Especially with the ball early on, but she batted excellently too. Thats just the way she plays - aggressive, fearless - and when it comes off like today, she can really hurt teams. Shes been absolutely phenomenal through so many editions of this tournament. Its really sad that this might be her last one. The whole group wanted to win it for her. Shes been such a huge figure in South African cricket - honestly like having two players in one. Were just so lucky shes on our team, she added. In the first innings, India put up 298/7 against South Africa, posting the second-highest score in a Women's ODI World Cup final. After a commanding 100-run opening stand, India were well placed at 223/3 but South Africa fought back to keep them below the 300 mark. I think 300 was about par on that wicket, and we genuinely believed we could chase it. Definitely. Especially with the ball early on, but she batted excellently too. Thats just the way she plays - aggressive, fearless - and when it comes off like today, she can really hurt teams. Shes been absolutely phenomenal through so many editions of this tournament. Its really sad that this might be her last one. The whole group wanted to win it for her. Shes been such a huge figure in South African cricket - honestly like having two players in one. Were just so lucky shes on our team, she added. Also Read: LIVE Cricket Score For South Africa, Ayabonga Khaka (3/58) was the standout performer with the ball while Nonkululeko Mlaba, Nadine de Klerk and Chloe Tryon picked up a wicket each. Article Source: IANS