South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt was left disappointed as her side fell narrowly at the last hurdle for a second consecutive time when losing the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup to New Zealand on Sunday.
The Proteas failed to chase down New Zealand’s lofty total of 158/5 in the title decider at Dubai International Cricket Stadium and were forced to settle for another second-placed finish following their runners-up effort behind Australia on home soil last year.
Wolvaardt admitted post-match that the Proteas were surprised by the fast start that the White Ferns made with the bat, as top-order performers Suzie Bates and Melie Kerr in particular scored freely within the opening Powerplay to put South Africa on the back foot.
“I think we probably let them score a bit too many with the bat,” Wolvaardt said.
“They came out with some real intent and I think it sort of caught us on the back foot a little bit.
“We thought we could sort of ride it out hopefully score a wicket or two but they sort of just kept going and rotated (the strike) really well.
“I think they had a really good last five or six overs where they really pushed that run rate and we were perhaps a bit off.
“After the Powerplay we had with the bat we thought game on but yeah just lost a bit of momentum outside the Powerplay.”
