Wolvaardt’s historic performance in vain as Sri Lanka win third ODI

Laura Wolvaardt and her opposite number Chamari Athapaththu produced a pair of batting masterclasses in Potchefstroom on Wednesday but it was the Sri Lankan skipper, with greater support from her teammates, who emerged with a historic win for her side. 

Athapaththu’s unbeaten 195 knocked Wolvaardt’s earlier career best 184* into fifth place on the list of highest individual scores in women’s ODIs. However, where Wolvaardt’s was virtually a lone hand, Athapaththu received terrific support particularly from Nilakshi de Silva, who shared a partnership of 179 for the fifth wicket with her skipper as Sri Lanka reached the target of 302 with 33 balls to spare, for a six-wicket victory. 

It was the highest successful run chase in a Women’s ODI and just the second time Sri Lanka have won an ODI in South Africa.

Athapaththu’s shotmaking, like Wolvaardt’s earlier, was mesmerising particularly her driving through the off side which married power with elegance. She struck 26 fours and fives, facing only 133 balls.

Athapaththu was given two lives, the first by wicketkeeper Sinalo Jaftha in the sixth over, when she failed to move to her left to grab an edge that flew between her and slip for four. 

The second came when Sune Luus, whose form with the bat has been depressing since she last made a century in September last year in Pakistan, dropped the Sri Lankan captain with her score on 128, on the midwicket boundary. 

Athapaththu made the home team pay for those errors and at the same time consigned their captain’s slice of history to waste.

After her match-winning hundred in Kimberley last Saturday, Wolvaardt set a new South African record in ODIs with her unbeaten 184, an innings that came off only 147 balls, and included 23 fours and four sixes. 

It is now the fifth-highest individual score in Women’s ODIs and comfortably ahead of Johmari Logtenberg’s previous SA record of 153*, made against the Netherlands in 2007. Wolvaardt is fulfilling the potential many felt she had when she burst onto the scene at the 2017 World Cup, but the fact that she is also carrying the added burden of captaincy makes these performances even more special. 

At one stage on Wednesday she even threatened former teammate Lizelle Lee’s record for the fastest century by a South African player in ODIs, but she was forced to slow down in the midst of Sri Lanka’s best period of the innings. 

After a fast start, in which Wolvaardt dominated an opening partnership of 116 with Lara Goodall, the tourists, thanks to Athapaththu and the determined Kaveesha Dilhari, applied a vice-like grip, allowing just 33 runs while picking up three wickets between the 20th and 30th overs. 

Part of Wolvaardt’s greatness, however, is in recognising the pressure moments. Though she later bemoaned her own slow scoring in that period, it was also what her team needed and she and Marizanne Kapp provided the necessary stability with a partnership of 53 for the fourth wicket. 

Wolvaardt exploded in the last five overs, as she surpassed Logtenberg and then put a South African name in the top 10 list. She needed just 47 balls to go from 100 to her final score 184, pushing SA’s total to 301/5, just the fifth time that the Proteas have breached the 300-mark in ODIs.