Brits is the first woman to score five ODI centuries in a calendar year.
It has been an incredible year for Tazmin Brits, and the question has to be: How many more records will she break by the end of 2025?
On Monday, Brits crunched her way to 101 off 89 balls, leading the Proteas women to a bounce-back six wicket win over the White Ferns in their second World Cup league stage match, after they went down heavily in their opener against England.
The Proteas are thus officially up and running in the competition and will take plenty of confidence into their blockbuster encounter against India on Thursday, with the in form Brits hoping to continue her impressive recent form.
“It feels great (helping her team win). I am glad that we could pull this one through. We definitely needed it after the first game,” Brits said after the match against the Kiwis.
“I just said I am going to be as positive as possible (in the chase) because we needed this win. I am just glad I middled all the balls. It was also a new bat – I hadn’t used it once – so I think that is going to be the lucky bat from now on.”
First to five
Brits is the first woman to score five ODI centuries in a calendar year, breaking the record set by Indian superstar Smriti Mandhana last year, who is again currently on four centuries this year.
So Mandhana could join Brits on five centuries before the year is out, but it has taken her 16 innings to score her four this year, while the South African has needed just 11 to score her five, and it is entirely possible that she could extend her record.
In fact, on current form, one would back her to do so, with four of her recent centuries coming in her last five innings.
She will have five more pool matches in the World Cup, plus the semis and final should the Proteas get there, and a three-game ODI series against Ireland in December to extend her record, so it will be interesting to see how many more tons she can get.
It has been an amazing year for the 34-year-old Brits, and an almost unbelievable upswing in form after a tough start to her international career.
She made her one-day international debut for the Proteas in 2021, and it took her 20 games to score her first half-century, and she immediately followed that up with her first century, scoring 118 against Bangladesh in Benoni in December 2023.
All seven of her hundreds have thus come in 20 innings since, which has seen her become the quickest woman to that mark, breaking Aussie great Meg Lanning’s record of 44 innings.
Staying positive
Speaking about her fantastic current form after the win over New Zealand, Brits wasn’t sure what to attribute it to, but admitted she was happy to be ahead of her Australian rival.
“I don’t actually know, I am just backing myself a bit more. I’m trying to be as positive as I can be. We actually had a lot of batting camps and I think that definitely helped. I am trying to expand my batting a bit more and not to be one dimensional,” said Brits.
“Funnily enough I am not one for records. But when you mention Meg Lanning, I am glad I’m above that one. But as long as we are just winning games, I am all good.”
Brits has also now moved up to fourth in the women’s ODI batting rankings, behind Mandhana at the top, England’s Nat Sciver-Brunt and Australia’s Beth Mooney.
The 749 runs she has scored for the Proteas this year is the second most in a calendar year, behind the 882 her captain Laura Wolvaardt scored in 2022.
So as great a year this has been for Brits so far, it could get even better, and many will now be watching in anticipation to see how far she can go.
