Manchester, June 13 (IANS) South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted Australia were the better side on the day after the Proteas suffered a 65-run defeat in their opening match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2026 at Emirates Old Trafford on Saturday.

After restricting Australia to 172/8 despite a blistering 51 from Phoebe Litchfield, South Africa struggled in the chase and were bowled out for 107 in 16.4 overs, with Wolvaardt top-scoring with 44.

Reflecting on the defeat, the South African skipper felt her side had done a reasonable job with the ball but failed to build momentum during the chase.

"Tough day today. I thought we had a pretty decent first half. Restricting them to that score was not too bad, but obviously, we just lost our way with the bat a bit. It's a disappointing loss, but I think they bowled really well and pretty much outplayed us today," Wolvaardt said after the match.

The captain believed Australia's total was within reach despite being slightly above par on a surface that offered assistance to the bowlers. "I thought it was okay. Maybe a little bit above par, but it could have been worse. We backed ourselves to go at around nine runs an over, but we just lost our way and struggled to get some momentum in the innings," she said.

Wolvaardt also took positives from South Africa's bowling performance, particularly the return of the experienced pace duo Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail.

"It was awesome to have them back. It's been a long time since we had them bowling together in a Power-play like that. Nadine de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba bowled pretty well too, so that's going well at least," she added.

The South African captain endured a frustrating innings herself. Although she stayed at the crease and fought hard for her 44, she struggled to keep up with the required rate as wickets continued to fall around her.

"It was hard to get going. I got stuck at the other end a bit, and then they bowled pretty well to me later on and closed up my areas. By the time I got out, it was quite late already, so I was disappointed with that," Wolvaardt admitted.

She also backed the decision to promote Nadine de Klerk to No. 4 after the all-rounder scored 25 and shared a 41-run stand with her captain. "I think it's nice to stack our lineup like that and have a little bit of power early. She batted well and has a lot of different options in the powerplay, so it's nice to have her up the order," Wolvaardt said.

Despite the heavy defeat, the South African skipper remained confident that her side could bounce back in the remainder of the tournament. "Definitely. There's still a long tournament to go. We'll put this game behind us as quickly as we can and move on to the next one," she said.

--IANS

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