Credit: Star Sports/X
In the must-win clash during the early stages of the ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup (CWC) 2025, South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt took a stunning catch to dismiss Lea Tahuhu at the Holkar Stadium in Indore. The moment happened in the 47th over of the New Zealand innings on a tossed up delivery from spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba, which the right-handed batter smashed towards the cover region, thinking she had nailed it for a four.
But to the surprise of everyone at the stadium, including Lea Tahuhu at the striker’s end, Laura Wolvaardt flew to her right to grab onto the ball with her outstretched right hand, completing a stunning catch. It signalled the end of the New Zealand batter’s short innings of five runs in nine balls, and in the next over, they were bowled out for 231 runs in 47.5 overs, which is a below par total considering the pitch conditions and short boundaries at the venue.
Watch the video here:
At one stage during their innings, New Zealand had reached 187-3 in 38 overs, looking poised to reach a total around 275 runs before South Africa bowlers made a stunning comeback. Nonkululeko Mlaba broke the 86-run stand for the fourth wicket between New Zealand captain Sophie Devine and Brook Halliday, dismissing the latter after she had scored 45 runs in just 37 balls with six fours to her name.
Devine tried to hold her end up while wickets fell at the other end for New Zealand, but when she got cleaned up by Mlaba for 85 off 98 with nine fours, her team’s innings completely crumbled. As of this writing, South Africa have reached 54-1 in 10 overs with Sune Luus struggling at (17* off 35) alongside Tanzim Brits on (13* off 15) at the crease.
Below are the playing XIs of New Zealand and South Africa for their ICC Women’s CWC 2025 match:
New Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson, Bree Illing
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Sune Luus, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Masabata Klaas, Ayabonga Khaka, Nonkululeko Mlaba
