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Laura Wolvaardt smashed 169 in Guwahati, setting South Africa’s highest Women’s World Cup score and joining the 5,000-run club.
South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt broke multiple records (AP)
South African captain Laura Wolvaardt etched her name in the record books with a blistering 169, propelling South Africa to 319/7 in the ICC Women’s World Cup semifinal against England in Guwahati on Wednesday. Wolvaardt’s sensational innings came off just 143 balls, featuring 20 fours and four sixes, with a strike rate of 118.18.
This remarkable feat is the third-highest score in an ICC Women’s World Cup knockout game, trailing only Australian captain Alyssa Healy’s 170 against England in the 2022 final and Indian star Harmanpreet Kaur’s 171* against Australia in the 2017 semifinals.
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In the match, England won the toss and chose to bowl first. Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits opened the innings and surprised the opposition bowlers with their impressive strokeplay. The Nat Sciver-Brunt-led team struggled to make the first breakthrough as the pair formed a substantial 116-run partnership.
Laura Wolvaardt led South Africa with a stunning 169, propelling the team to 319/7, for the third-highest individual scores in World Cup knockouts.
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It also ranks as the fifth-highest individual score in Women’s World Cup history, behind the performances of Harmanpreet, Healy, England’s Charlotte Edwards (173* against Ireland in 1997), Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu (178* against Australia in 2017), and Australian legend Belinda Clark (229* against Denmark in 1997).
Wolvaardt’s knock is also the highest individual score by a South African in a Women’s World Cup, surpassing all-rounder Marizanne Kapp’s 102 against Pakistan in the 2013 tournament. Additionally, Wolvaardt became the first South African and the sixth overall batter to join the 5,000-run club in women’s ODIs.
In 118 WODIs and 117 innings, she has amassed 5,121 runs at an average of 50.20, with 10 centuries and 38 fifties, and a highest score of 184*. She joins the elite group of batters with 10 or more centuries in WODIs, which includes Nat Sciver-Brunt (10 for England), Tammy Beaumont (12 for England), Suzie Bates (13 for New Zealand), Smriti Mandhana (14 for India), and Meg Lanning (15 for Australia).
Wolvaardt is the leading run-scorer in the ongoing tournament, with 470 runs in eight innings at an average of 67.91, including a century and three fifties, and a strike rate of nearly 98. She has surpassed her previous record of 433 runs in eight matches, which included five fifties in the 2022 edition, to achieve the best-ever Women’s World Cup performance by a South African player.
Her tally is the third-highest runs scored in a single edition by a batter, behind Australian batters Rachael Haynes (497 runs in nine matches in the 2022 edition) and Alyssa Healy (509 runs in nine matches in the 2022 edition).
(With inputs from Agencies)
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin…Read More
Ritayan Basu, Senior Sub-Editor, Sports at News18.com. Has been covering domestic and and international football for nearly a decade. Has played and covered badminton. Ocassionally writes cricket content, havin… Read More
Guwahati [Gauhati], India, India
October 29, 2025, 19:18 IST
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