Watch VideoLaura Wolvaardt seeks return to top form as Proteas face Ireland

Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt will be hoping to rediscover some of the form from the India series earlier this year when SA face Ireland in Saturday’s T20 World Cup warm-up match in England. When theProteas Womentake on Ireland in their second warm-up match ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in England and Wales, the fixture could offercaptain Laura Wolvaardtthe ideal opportunity to rediscover the form that has made her one of the tournament’s most consistent performers. Wolvaardt enters the global showpiece with the highest batting average among established players in Women’s T20 World Cup history, having scored 563 runs at an average of 43.30 across four editions.

The South African skipper’s remarkable consistency places her among the elite performers in the competition’s history and underlines her importance to the Proteas’ hopes of finally claiming a maiden world title. The 27-year-old’s credentials heading into the tournament are undeniable. Earlier this year she produced one of the most dominant batting displays seen in women’s T20 Internationals, earning Player of the Series honours in South Africa’s emphatic 4-1 triumph over India.

Wolvaardt amassed a record 330 runs at an average of 82.50 and a strike rate of 168.36, setting a new benchmark for the most runs scored in a bilateral women’s T20I series. Her haul included a century and three half-centuries, highlighted by a blistering 115 from 53 balls in Johannesburg and an unbeaten 92 in Benoni. It helped propel her to No 3 in the world T20 batting rankings.