Laura Wolvaardt press conference ahead of IND vs SA Final ICC Women's Cricket World Cup 2025

Laura Wolvaardt | ICC WCW25 | South Africa pre-match press conference | 1 November '25 [Reporter:] All the best for the tomorrow's match. You have come through a very lead batch in the initial group stage of this match where even against England also all out for 69, 97 against Australia. After that India's match winning against - you won against India. From that time you have not looked back. So my question will be how tough will be facing Indian team here in Mumbai for the final where not only the mental strength of Indian team because they have scored a very huge rounds last match, again crowd will be there. How you prepare yourself for tomorrow's match? [Laura Wolvaardt:] Yeah, it's going to be a very tough game I think, , with the, the whole crowd behind India, probably a sold out stadium. 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, 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. [Reporter:] Laura, each of the last three World Cup contests against India, you've emerged on the winning side. How much of a factor is that going to be tomorrow? [Laura Wolvaardt:] Yeah, we're trying not to think too much about the past at all, I think. 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. [Reporter:] South Africa defeated India in the league stage and you can always take inspiration from that match. But we have also seen, Australia defeated India in the league stage, but India were a different side in the semi finals. So what kind of contest you expect in the final and any lessons that you have taken from your previous meetings. [Laura Wolvaardt:] I think knockout cricket is completely different to league cricket. I think like we've seen, I think people are able to do some very special things in knockout games like we saw from Jemi the other night. So I think, yeah, starts totally afresh. I don't think we're going to be looking into our group game against them. We know we have to play some really good cricket. They're a really strong side and have just come off of a really good game as well, so they'll be high on confidence. So, yeah, we'll just have to play some good cricket, stick to our basics, stick to what we've been doing well throughout the tournament. [Reporter:] Coming to this ground where you have not played a single match this World Cup yet, what do you think will be the biggest challenge to quickly assess the conditions apart from the crowd factor? Because conditions might be batting friendly and you had said in Guwahati that might be good for you, but it's a headache for you while setting the field. [Laura Wolvaardt:] Yeah, I enjoy it as a batter, but not so much as a captain. The super flat wickets. But yeah, like you said, obviously it's going to be a really big crowd, probably the biggest crowd that a lot of our goals have played in front of. A lot of eyeballs on the game, a lot of added pressure and, yeah, probably pretty batting friendly. So it might be pretty high scoring, which is why I think if we're just able to stay really calm, it'll be really important. It may feel like there's a lot happening tomorrow, with boundaries and the crowd and the noise, but I think we just need to stay as grounded as possible and as focused as we can on the moment and what we need to do. Reporter: This stadium will be tomorrow sea of blue with all the Indian supporters there, 90% or maybe even more. How do you plan to silence the crowd? Laura Wolvaardt: Hopefully we win. I guess that will silence them. Yeah. Reporter: This is the first time that neither Australia nor England will be there in the final of the women's ODI World Cup. So does that mark a shift in the sort of powers of the game in women's cricket and how good is it for the health of the sport that you see India and South Africa contesting this match? #Lauraolvaardt Definitely very good for the health of the sport. I think it's very exciting that we have a potential new champion of the World Cup. Yeah, I think it just shows how much the women's game is developing and how different countries are being able to use new resources and develop really good quality cricketers. For more cricket updates from us: WEBSITE: https://cric-mate.com MEDIA SUPPORT: https://Witbuz.com #cwc25 #savsind