Rather than dwell on losses to England at previous 50-over World Cups, Wolvaardt was instead more interested in taking confidence from good results at the semi-final stage of the two most recent editions of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.
South Africa defeated England by six runs at the semi-final stage of the 2023 T20 World Cup on home soil and then repeated the dose 12 months later against Australia in Dubai as they qualified for the decider against New Zealand.
“That semi-final loss against England (at the 2022 50-over World Cup) was four years ago, we were a totally different looking side,” Wolvaardt said.
“They’ve got a lot of different players as well. It’s a fresh opportunity and it starts from zero.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully we’re able to learn from those (T20 World Cup) semi-final victories that we’ve got and maybe stay a bit calmer under pressure.
“We have played some really good cricket throughout the tournament. Most of our discussions leading up to tomorrow have just been about making sure that we’re in the right mental state to play the game, really believing in our preparation, really trusting in our skills and what we’ve done before.
“I think we know as a group that we are really talented and that if we just stay calm out there tomorrow, we have a really good chance of winning. They are under a lot of pressure as well. Everyone is in a semi-final.”
