Laura Wolvaardt stars with the bat as Proteas beat West Indies to square ODI series

Johannesburg — If you were looking for one of those oil-painting type innings from Laura Wolvaardt — the ones with the exquisite cover drives; up, over or through the inner-ring — then Thursday’s knock was not for you.

Wolvaardt is one of the stars of the international game, her shotmaking is normally of a style that makes traditionalists swoon. Not on this occasion. This was an innings of hard graft, fierce concentration and determination. It was physically demanding with Wolvaardt often dropping to her haunches and on various occasions she required her squad mates to sprint onto the field delivering cold refreshments. It was hot and the West Indies bowling — at least in the first two thirds of South Africa’s innings — was disciplined.

The 22 year old had her favourite boundary option — that delicious cover drive — cut off by a fielder placed on the boundary from the first over. The West Indies succeeded in cramping her room, not allowing that drive and forcing Wolvaardt to locate new scoring areas.

That she did, flicking balls off her legs or shifting her weight onto backfoot to manipulate the bowler's length allowing her to pull deliveries through the legside. It was a display of different skills and it will serve her well as she heads into the World Cup, that she got this kind of stiff examination and succeeded.

South Africa’s batters were noticeably more aggressive at the start of the innings after Sune Luus chose to bat. Tazmin Brits wacked four boundaries in an innings of 18 that lasted just 13 balls, while Anneke Bosch, one of three changes to the starting line-up from the first two matches of the series, tried to thump every ball not aimed at the stumps, but quickly ran out of luck after scoring just 5.

With two