Proteas opening batter Tazmin Brits has climbed two slots to a career-best fourth place in this week’s update of the ICC Women’s ODI Player Rankings.
Britz reached this prime position in the batters’ list after scoring an explosive 101 off 89 balls in the Proteas’ six-wicket victory over New Zealand in a highly contested tie at the Holkar Stadium in India on Monday.
It was South Africa’s first victory at the Women’s Cricket World Cup, after falling short in their opening match against England.
Brits’ century is her fifth this year, making this the most-ever three-figure scores by a woman cricketer in a calendar year.
Coterie of winners
“This one was a bit fun, for some reason I was mirroring the ball a bit better, but I think the best century was the one in Pakistan where Kapi [Marizanne Kapp] and I batted for that long period of time, I think that was probably the toughest century that I’ve had to make,” Britz said after the game.
Britz explained the reason behind the ‘bow and arrow’ gesture celebration after reaching her milestone.
“Yeah, so the 50, I always do a ballerina celebration, so that stays for my late dad and then the bow and arrow … I actually put it out to the fans; I said to them to send requests [for a celebration] and two 13-year-old girls sent me the soccer player [Edison Cavani] and asked me to do that celebration. So, yes, I actually did it for them,” Britz explained.
Meanwhile, Marizanne Kapp also shifted one slot to fifth in the ICC ODI bowling rankings, while her teammate Nonkululeko Mlaba’s four-wicket haul against New Zealand saw her take a six-slot leap to a career-best 13th place with 589 points.
Mlaba’s previous best was number 19 in September this year. South Africa will now turn their attention to India, where they will collide with the host nation on Thursday.
