The Calm Leader Fiery South Africa Need

South Africa wicketkeeper Sinalo Jafta will be beaming with pride when Laura Wolvaardt leads out the Proteas in her 100th T20I against Pakistan on Wednesday.

Opening batter Wolvaardt will become the sixth South African woman to do so and is likely to be joined in the Proteas XI for their second ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 game by four of the players to achieve the feat ahead of her.

For Jafta, who is set to make appearance number 69, Wolvaardt’s composed demeanour unites the varied personalities that make up the South Africa squad.

“Wolfy is someone who leads with integrity; she is someone who is the first to show up, whether it is in the gym, running, fitness, or batting,” Jafta said.

“I think that as a leader she brings that calmness, she is so calm, and I think that is what is needed, especially from the type of team we have, which is very strong characters, and then when you have a leader like her, who is able to calm everything down, it is exactly what is needed.

“I couldn’t be more proud of her, 100 T20 games for her, I am so proud of her, we tell her that each and every day, she is doing a fantastic job.”

South Africa are looking for an immediate response after losing heavily to Australia in their opening match in Manchester.

Now having made it to Birmingham, they take on Pakistan, who are also aiming to get a win on the board after their defeat to India on Sunday.

Jafta dissected the team effort that will be required to get past Pakistan, with the match beginning at 18:30 local time.

She added: “We always talk about Laura Wolvaardt starting well for us, that is something that is out there. But for us, as a team, we have got a really long batting line-up; anyone on any given day can put up their hand.

“It is the same in the bowling; we always talk about Shabnim Ismail and Marizanne Kapp, but we forget about Ayabonga Khaka, who brings out calmness within our bowling attack.

“When you go to the fielding, it is going to take a collective. Our new fielding coach, Mduduzi [Mbhatha], is all about just having fun out there because that is the one time you get to do something as a team, and it is just about being aggressive when you do things and keep it simple.”

South Africa struggled against Australia’s four spinners in their first game, as the quartet took nine of the 10 Proteas wickets.

With Sadia Iqbal in their arsenal, Pakistan are sticking to their guns of opening up with spin.

Batting coach Imran Farhat said: “It is our plan to bowl spin in the powerplay. Sadia always bowls with the new ball, so we have to use our main striker, plus we have other good spinners like Nashra [Sundhu], Rameen [Shamim], and another promising leg-spinner also.

“We have to take our chances, spinning is our strength, the conditions are also favourable, we have already played here, and we saw the ball was gripping a lot here, so the spinners have the main role.”

Pakistan and South Africa were bowled out for 106 and 107, respectively, in their opening games, and Imran has called on his players to play positively.

He added: “Everyone is given their roles, so once the powerplay finishes, we are not worried about keeping the wickets, we are worried about maintaining the run rate as required because in T20 cricket you don’t have the margins.

“We have enough strength, we can afford one or two wickets, but we have to make sure the run rate keeps going. Unfortunately, last match we lost four or five wickets.

“Our focus is to play positive cricket and whatever runs are given by the other team, we have to go and play proper cricket.”