The answer to the question above, which is loosely based on the 1933 song by Henry Hall, is simple. The Proteas Women’s captain answered it herself many years ago in indelible ink on a banner at the Complete Cricketer Academy in the Montague Arena. “Wolfie is Gevaarlik!” she wrote. (Wolfie (vol-fee) is dangerous!) Indeed, she is!
Everyone who plays against her should be afraid, very afraid. On the 5th December 2025, she showed at Newlands exactly why. Her Player of the Match performance in the first T20I of the Ireland Women’s tour was a tour de force of note. Arriving at the crease on the fourth ball of the second over, Laura Wolvaardt produced an innings for the ages on her home turf.
The luckless Irish were treated to a chanceless knock which, both individually and from a team aspect, shattered numerous South African Women’s cricket records. SA’s leading run-scorer in both ODIs and T20Is set new standards today, and as an equally brilliant Suné Luus said in her post-match interview, who knows how many more records Laura will set.
Getting first past 50 in a record 24 balls, and then to her hundred in 52 balls, she swept past Lizelle Lee’s marks of 26 and 59, respectively. Lee is known to be hard-hitting and dismissive as a batter. Laura is flowing, pleasing on the eye, and brutally effective. Her Wagon Wheel is impressive, with 15 fours all around the ground, and 4 sixes, 2 of which were beautifully executed over long off. Her driving is known to be the stuff of legend, but her judging of length today, and the way she manipulated the ball to pepper the boundary cushions, was truly awe-inspiring.
Suné did not stand in Laura’s shadow. She achieved her career-best T20I score of 81, and partnered Wolfie in an SA Women’s all-time record stand (for any wicket) of 176 off exactly 16 overs. The crowd at Newlands was wowed by the Proteas pair. When Luus was finally dismissed in the 18th over, the returning Dané van Niekerk plundered 21 from 8 deliveries, as she and Laura added an additional 40 in just 15 balls.
Wolvaardt ended on her highest-ever T20 score, whether in T20Is or representative T20. The 115 off just 56 balls, with 15 fours and 4 sixes, was only one run shy of Shandré Fritz’s South African mark set against the Netherlands some 15 years ago. It is only the second T20I century at Newlands, and it is the highest. Laura became the first South African Woman to score 2 T20I centuries. It is now her third consecutive century for SA, after her two hundreds in the semi-final and final of the ICC World Cup in India.
The final score of 220/2 is the SA Women’s highest-ever T20I score, eclipsing the 205/1 that Fritz powered back in October 2010. It is only the second time in any T20 match at Newlands that 200 has been passed, beating all representative cricket matches and the 213/5 that England scored against Pakistan in the 2023 T20 World Cup. The margin of victory of 105 runs is the equal third-highest for the SA Women.
Jane Maguire’s 1/52 in her 4 overs is the most expensive analysis ever for Ireland Women and at Newlands.
The dominance was complete when Luus removed both Amy Hunter and Orla Prendergast in the first over of the Ireland innings. There was not going to be any coming back from 4/2. Suné said after the game that she was only told just before the start that she was going to bowl the first over. This is part of the preparation for the upcoming T20 World Cup in June/July next year, with different plans being tried. This one worked perfectly. Captain Gaby Lewis (30 off 29, 5×4) and left-hander Leah Paul (34 off 23, 6×4) put up brave resistance, but both fell to catches from Player of the Match Wolvaardt, off Tryon and Shangase respectively.
South Africa’s fielding was excellent, with all offered catches being taken, including a stunning caught-and-bowled by Luus. Captain Wolvaardt said in the pre-match press conference that South Africa will not take Ireland lightly. The intensity was clear, sharp and focused. Luus alluded to that in her post-match chat to the press, and the execution on the field backed her up. As has been the case for some time now, this team is walking the talk.
The footnote to this match is perhaps in comparing this team to the one that scored 205/1 against the Netherlands some 15 years ago. Three of the 11 that day played today, a then 20-year-old Marizanne Kapp, 19-year-old Masabata Klaas and 17-year-old Dané van Niekerk. Today may have been significant for all of these three for different reasons.
The reality is that the team that SA were then, and the team that they are now, with no disrespect to those who gave their all in 2010, is very different. The captain and her former captain held up their hands today, but tomorrow it may be another Protea that blooms.
The cricketing world is certainly on notice that Wolfie’s team is gevaarlik.
Photo Credit: Cricket South Africa