Having endured a 3-0 T20I series whitewash last week at the hand of the visiting England Women’s team, South Africa bounced back with a resounding six-wicket victory in the first of three scheduled ODI matches earlier this week.
Having played a fairly young team in the T20I series, with some of the senior members of the team away in Australia competing in the Big Bash League, South Africa welcomed back the likes of Ayabonga Khaka and Marizanne Kapp for the start of the ODI series.
With those players back in the side, the hosts were able to get their first victory of the multi-format tour in Kimberly.
Speaking on the importance of the victory in the first ODI at the Diamond Oval, captain Laura Wolvaardt emphasised the importance of experience in international cricket.
“I think we disappointed ourselves in that T20I series obviously with a very young and inexperienced side," Wolvaardt told Independent Newspapers in an exclusive interview.
“It was super important to start the ODI series well. It was very nice to have the experience back, the likes of Marizanne Kapp and Ayabonga Khaka, made a massive difference in the game and it was awesome to see them all performing.
"It was great to start that series with a win and we've set ourselves up well for the rest of the series and the rest of the summer. If we can get another one and win the ODI series, that would be really good from our point of view."
Wolvaardt herself made an unbeaten 59 off 114 deliveries in the first ODI and carried her bat to ensure that the team got over the line and went 1-0 up in the series.
However, the right-handed batter admitted that she struggled to find flow to her innings but decided to knuckle down nevertheless in order to see the team over the line in the end.
“It was one of the tougher innings I've played. I wasn't really finding my flow or playing freely. I felt the only way they (England Women) were going to get back into the game was if we lost wickets regularly,” she said.
“We only needed three an over, so I thought I'd just knuckle down, bat time and take it as deep as I could and luckily my teammates at the other end were all batting freely and could score. By the time Nadine (de Klerk) came in and whacked it in the other end, the game was sealed. Glad we got the win in the end."
Despite having made two T20 World Cup finals in the past two years, South Africa have been rather poor in bilateral T20 series'.
In fact, the side has been more consistent in 50-over cricket, a feat that places them in good stead for next year’s ODI World Cup in India.
“It's (ODI cricket) been one of our stronger formats," Wolvaardt reiterated.
“In T20Is, we do well when World Cups come around but in ODI cricket we've been good throughout the year. It's definitely a format we pride ourselves in and I think we have a really good team heading into the rest of this ODI series.
“Very excited and this is obviously a massive series for us. We want to stand a chance of making the finals and winning that ODI World Cup and that preparation starts now.”
The second ODI of the series is set to get underway tomorrow at 10am SAST at Kingsmead Stadium in Durban.