Laura Wolvaardt, the captain of South Africa, praised the "amazing turnaround" of her squad after they recovered from a dreadful start to defeat New Zealand by six wickets in the Women's ODI World Cup on Monday.

After being bowled out for only 69 runs in their first game this past Saturday against England, South Africa produced a strong all-around effort, limiting New Zealand to 231 runs in 47.5 overs before easily chasing down their target in 40.5 overs.

"Definitely very amazing turnaround," Wolvaardt stated at the post-match presentation. "We knew we could do this in the first game, so it’s nice to put that behind us and bounce back today."

The captain credited her bowlers for putting their plans into practice, especially in the death overs. "Our last 15 overs were amazing. Mlaba bowled beautifully in her second spell and our plans at the death needed to happen," she said.

Opener Tazmin Brits starred with a blistering 101 off 89 balls, her seventh ODI hundred, leading the chase from the front. “She’s going amazing. I think she’s scored 600 runs in the last seven games. It’s phenomenal to have her in our team, and hopefully, she can continue this form,” Wolvaardt said.

Looking ahead, the Proteas captain emphasised the need to stay grounded ahead of their next match against India. “We’ll enjoy tonight but forget about it quickly. Every game starts at zero. It’s a big one against India, and we need to be fully switched on,” she noted.

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine admitted her side faltered after a strong start. “It was a 270-280 wicket. We got into a position to launch but kept losing wickets, which made it hard to finish strong. Credit to South Africa—they played brilliantly,” she said.

Despite back-to-back defeats, Devine remained optimistic. “It puts more pressure on the remaining games, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. We know what we have to do,” she added.

Player of the Match Brits, who became the fastest woman to reach seven ODI centuries, said she was pleased with her consistency. “I’m not one for records, but to surpass Meg Lanning feels special. I just backed myself and stayed positive. Funny enough, it was a new bat—I guess it’s my lucky one now.”

(With PTI Inputs)