Laura Wolvaardt has been regarded as the prodigy of South African cricket in the 50 overs game by many. She has admitted that she loves to play in that format and wants to play technically correct cricket. On this day, in 2017, she once again had proved her point.
At Potchefstroom, Mignon Du Preez won the toss and decided to bat first against Ireland. And her team went off to an extraordinary start. Lizelle Lee and Wolvaartd put up 68 runs partnership. Wolvaardt started slowly and took her time in the middle, while Lee took the attack to the opposition. Once Lee got out she started to take chances. Laura Wolvaardt completed her half-century in 70 balls and made a handy partnership with Trisha Chetty. Duo added 169 for the 2nd wicket.
Laura continued to pace her innings with ease while founding the boundary when needed. She never allowed the bowlers to get top of her and keep her cool composure. Laura Wolvaardt completed her century in 123 balls in the 38th over by taking a single off the bowling of Beggs.
After completing her century she decided to accelerate the run flowing and scored her last 49 runs in 26 balls. She took 17 fours in her way to make 149 from 149 balls. She was on verge of breaking the 10 years old record of highest Individual score for South Africa of Johmari Logtenberg (153*) but lost her wicket to score quickly. She later admitted that she felt bad that she missed the record that day.
But in the process, her 149 is the 2nd highest individual score for South Africa. At the same time, her 17 boundaries are also the highest boundary by any South African in One Day International. Her knock of 149 helped South Africa to put their highest score n ODI (339) in this match.
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Laura Wolvaardt: 149 in 149 balls (17*4)
| Run | Balls Taken | Dot | Singles | Doubles | Fours | Dot % | Strike Rate |
| 0-50 | 70 | 38 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 54.28 | 71.42 |
| 51-100 | 53 | 21 | 24 | 3 | 5 | 39.62 | 94.33 |
| 101-149 | 26 | 2 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 07.69 | 188.46 |
| Total : 149 | 149 | 61 | 61 | 10 | 17 | 40.93 | 100 |
Ireland was no match against this mammoth total. South African bowlers put pressure on the opposition from the start of their innings. Though Laura Delany and Laura Maritz put up some resistance, it was not enough to secure a victory against the mighty Proteas. They went on to win the match by 178 runs, their highest against Ireland in terms of run.
Brief Score:
South Africa 339/5 (Laura Wolvaardt 149, Trisha Chetty 70, Aoife Beggs 3/64) beat Ireland 159/8 (Laura Martiz 25, Laura Delany 23, Sune Luss 2/ 27) by 178 runs.
