South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt has said that a capacity Indian crowd at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai could end up adding more pressure on the home team in the World Cup final on Sunday. South Africa, who like Australia had beaten India in the group stages, are also looking to be first-time winners of the Women’s World Cup.
“It’s going to be a very exciting opportunity but at the same time I think it puts a lot of pressure on them as well. They have the whole country behind them and are sort of expected to win. I guess so. Yeah, I think it sort of plays in our favour hopefully. We’re very excited for the game. They’re a very good side. We’re going to have to play some really good cricket to beat them, but we’re really excited for the opportunity,” said Wolvaardt in the press conference ahead of the final.
South Africa has enjoyed a superior head to head over India in World Cup cricket, with the home team yet to rack up a win against the Proteas women (0-3). But Wolvaardt said that knockout games at a World Cup were different to the league stages and one special knock could change everything.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt pose with the trophy ahead of the ICC Womens World Cup 2025 Final. (ICC Media Zone)
“Yeah, like I said before, every cricket game starts at zero. We can’t sort of bring any of our history into this game. Whether it would be finals that we’ve lost or games that we’ve won against India, we’re just really trying to erase all of that stuff and start completely afresh in this game. Yeah, I think there’s big pressure on both teams to perform and I think whoever stays the calmest under that pressure is going to most likely come out on top tomorrow,” said Wolvaardt in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
Both India and South Africa also come into this match with the experience of being on the losing side of a World Cup final. Wolvaardt said that rather than focusing on winning the final, she wanted to focus on being present during the final and not thinking too far ahead.
“I think in those finals or the first time I was in the final, you automatically think about the trophy and think about winning and sort of get excited. And now I’m just really trying to stay present. We still have a really big game ahead of us against a really quality side. I’m trying not to think too far ahead. I just really need to focus on what I need to do tonight at practice and then what I need to do tomorrow morning. Just really sort of slow it down. I think the first time you’re in those finals, it sort of, it feels like a really big, fast paced event. Whereas I think we need to all slow it down and take a big breath and hopefully we’re able to do that as a group,” added the Proteas captain.
