With the South African domestic cricket season in full recession. It is only fair to keep looking back at a credible historic season in women’s cricket.
This was officially the first domestic professional cricket season in South Africa. While the structure still needs a lot of work. Some players did bring their “A game” forward. Hopefully, the provincial sides will treat the off-season and pre-season very serious. Fitness will be key for the players because there is no quality cricket without fitness.
In the One Day Cup, Tazmin Brits again finished as the leading run scorer. Her Proteas teammate Nonkululeko Mlaba finished as the leading wickettaker. Nonkululeko Mlaba’s efforts heavily contributed to the Dolphins winning their first domestic trophy in over a decade. Kiara Fisher, Ayanda Hlubi, and Alex Candler were very instrumental even though they did not make the final XI One Day Cup squad.
One Day Cup XI according to Four6Out:
1. Tazmin Brits (Garden Route Badgers) opens the batting after she was the leading run scorer with 464 runs, including 3 hundreds and 1 half century. Tazmin had a high score of 139, and her strike rate was healthy at 119.
2. Robyn Searle (Titans) captains the side and opens the batting with Tazmin. Robyn was the tournament’s second leading run scorer with 397 runs. While Robyn did not score a century, she recorded the most half centuries. She went past 50 five times.
3. Nonkululeko Thabethe (Lions) comes in at three. She makes the team over other players on the basis that she managed to be more consistent over a longer period. Nonkululeko Thabethe had 3 half centuries with a high score of 94 for the Lions.
4. Mignon van der Merwe (Free State) her move from the Titans was unexpected but her returning to domestic cricket when most of her former Proteas teammates decided not to play domestic cricket became a great moment to have Mignon’s quality in domestic cricket, especially for Free State. The former Proteas skipper boasted 302 runs in 4 innings for Free State. She averaged 100 with the bat and scored 2 centuries.
5. Katie Prior (Titans) is the only player under the age of 24 in the top 6. The 22 year old had a breakthrough year for the Titans with the bat scoring 305 at an average of 61. Katie is in the team as a batting all-rounder as well.
6. Yolandi Potgieter (Free State) showed yet again that experience is invaluable for a successful side. Yolandi was the ultimate all-rounder for Free State, scoring 288 runs and taking 14 wickets. For Free State, she opens the batting, but for this team, she comes in at number 6.
7. Babette de Leede (Western Province) would probably not agree with this batting position, but there is nowhere else the Dutch wicketkeeper batter could be slotted. She is the teams wicketkeeper as well. Babette was Western Province best batter with 279 runs.
8. Eliz-Mari Marx (Titans) takes the bowling all-rounder position. Eliz-Mari had a better showing with the bat than the ball this season. The Proteas bowler did score 190 runs at an average of 61. Her high score was 115 runs. With the ball, she took 7 wickets at an average of 22.
9. Nonkululeko Mlaba (Dolphins) was the tournament’s leading wicket taker with her slow left-arm spin. Nonkululeko Mlaba took 18 wickets at an average of 8. Her bowling economy rate was 2.23, and the strike rate was crazy at 22.
10. Paulinah Mashishi (Titans) took the same number of wickets as Mlaba, but her average was slightly higher at 19. Her bowling economy was as good at 29. Paulinah, with her wicket to wicket offspin, caused a lot of trouble for batters this past season. She was the Titans go to bowler.
11. Nosipho Vezi (Western Province), with her medium pace, caused a lot of uncertainty among batters on how they should play. She was rewarded with 16 wickets at an average of 17.4.
There has been some credible players that have been left out in this team like Kiara Fisher, Jenna Evans, Kgomotso Rapoo, Khayakazi Mathe, Jemma Botha, Delmi Tucker, Ayanda Hlubi, Gandhi Jafta and Alex Candler. Only 11 players can make the team, and the balance of the side also had to be considered.
As for bowling, Eliz-Mari and Katie will handle the fire power in the bowling line-up. Nosipho handles the middle overs and dry up runs. Yolandi, Paulinah, and Nonkululeko Mlaba handle the spin bowling responsibilities.
The batting is good, the middle-order is solid, and there are enough finishers in the team.
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