In her first innings of the tournament, the 20-year-old struck five boundaries from her last six balls to put South Africa firmly in the driving seat against Pakistan in Sydney
South Africa batsman Laura Wolvaardt has described her match-winning half-century against Pakistan as "probably the biggest contribution I've made to this team".
The 20-year-old struck 53 from 36 deliveries to reach the milestone for just the second time in her international T20 career, steering South Africa towards victory from an unsteady 54 for three at the half-way mark.
Her innings would prove to be one of just two scores above 40 during Sunday's action at the Sydney Showground Stadium, with the pitch displaying low bounce and heavily favouring spin bowling throughout the Group B double-header.
It would also manage to propel Dane van Niekerk's Proteas to an insurmountable 136, with the team taking 54 from the final five overs and Wolvaardt herself striking five boundaries from her final six deliveries, and ensure the team will occupy one of the pool's two spots in next week's semi-finals.
"It really meant a lot to me. If I think about the importance of today and the World Cup, I'm really happy that things worked out the way they did," she remarked after the game.
"[The pitch] was a bit lower and slower than what we were used to, but Dane came to sit next to me in the dugout, and she was telling me exactly what was on and what wasn't on.
"I'm not exactly a natural big hitter as they would say, so it's been quite a journey for me to kind of get my spot here in this T20 side, and it's been something that I've been working on really hard.
"But I always focus on my basics, and I guess if the base is really good, then you can build on from there."
Wolvaardt's unbeaten 53 came in her first trip to the crease at this year's tournament
Remarkably, the fluent innings was Wolvaardt's very first of the tournament, having padded up but not been called upon to bat in either of the Proteas' victories over England or Thailand last week.
Averaging more than 45 as an opener in the 50-over format since debuting aged 16, the youngster credited the recent launch of a T20 Super League for South Africa's domestic players with helping her build confidence in the middle order for the shorter format.
She also praised the team's reinvention in the format since crashing out early at the 2018 edition in the West Indies, where the team was twice bowled out for 85 and 76 in successive games and posted its highest score of 109 in a dead rubber with Bangladesh.
Today's result ensures that South Africa have qualified for the knockout rounds for the first time since the 2014 tournament, and the side will will now remain in Sydney for both Tuesday's final group game against the West Indies – where a win would guarantee a top seeding and a meeting with either New Zealand or Australia – as well as Thursday's semi-finals.
She added: "I've obviously been itching to get going. I really love batting, but I guess in the ideal scenario innings for our team I don't bat, so I guess it's a good thing [I wasn't needed].
"We played this part kind of back-to-back-to-back, so it's nice to be in the same place because a travel day does take its toll a little bit," she added.
"Something that we've spoken about a lot is that we have a lot of individual match-winners in our side, and I'm so happy that now it's finally coming together.
"The way we're going about our games is really amazing compared to that last World Cup, and just to see the position that we're in now is such a relief for us."
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