A stunning all-round performance from the Proteas Women, led by Tazmin Brits with the bat and Masabata Klaas with the ball, saw them clinch a thumping 166-run DLS win over the West Indies in the third CG United ODI at the Three Ws Oval in Cave Hill, Barbados, on Tuesday.
The result secured a 2-1 ODI series win over the hosts, after West Indies won the opening match by four wickets on the DLS method, before the Proteas bounced back with 40-run win in the second match, setting them up to seal the series in the third.
It was a weather affected final match, with six short rain delays over both innings seeing the teams go off and on the field throughout.
It was the Windies who won the toss and put the Proteas in to bat, with Brits leading the charge in scoring her fourth international century, finishing on 101 off 91 balls, having struck four sixes and eight fours, as they managed 278-6 in 45.4 overs.
Tazmin Brits, take a bow! đȘđżđŠ
â Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) June 17, 2025
A century of the highest quality delivered with intent and style! A superb knock! đđ„#AlwaysRising #WozaNawe pic.twitter.com/itPz2xRVZQ
Captain Laura Wolvaardt backed her up with 75 off 76 (7x4), and it was their 184-run opening partnership off 157 balls that set them up for the solid score.
The Windies' chase was then blown away by a great opening spell from Klaas, who ended with career-best figures of 4-25 off six overs, and Marizanne Kapp, 1-7 off four overs, as they reduced the hosts to 10-4 in the fourth over.
They showed some middle- and lower-order fight from Jahzara Claxton (43) and Aaliyah Alleyne (32) to get them to 121 all out, which proved to be well short in the end.
'KILLER INSTINCT'
âI am very pleased with the win, it was a pretty good performance from us to get across the line. We had a great start with the bat, it was nice to push 300 (runs) again, and then the bowlers finished the job,â said a happy looking Wolvaardt after the match.
âWe (Wolvaardt and Brits) definitely had a purposeful change of mindset compared to the previous game. We really wanted to come hard up front to put our team on the front foot early on, and really attack that powerplay and I am glad it came off today.
âShe (Klaas) was amazing. Thatâs the start (with the ball) that we have been looking for this series. To get them four down early was amazing, and it put us well ahead in that bowling innings. Itâs that killer instinct that weâve been wanting from the bowling group, so I loved that start.â
In the chase the Windies were set a DLS target of 298 in 45 overs, which got reduced to 294 off 42, and finally 288 off 39 after two more rain delays.
But they got off to a disastrous start which ended their chase before it began, as Klaas had both openers out in the second over, captain Hayley Matthews (8) skying to Nondumiso Shangase, and Qiana Joseph (1) bowled.
Kapp then had Zaida James (1) caught by Sune Luus in the next over and Klaas had Chinelle Henry edging to keeper Sinalo Jafta for a third-ball duck in the following, which effectively broke the back of the Windies' chase.
Other than the 65-run seventh-wicket stand between Claxton and Alleyne, there were no other partnerships of note from the hosts, as Nonkululeko Mlaba, 2-25, and Annerie Dercksen, 2-1 in five balls, cleaned up the rest of the batters.
BRITS AND WOLWAARDT MAKE MERRY
In the Proteas innings it was a stop start affair, with the toss delayed by 30 minutes, before rain chased the players from the field twice, with the Proteas on 207-4, for an under half an hour delay, and then with 4.1 overs of their innings still to go.
At the start of play Brits and Wolvaardt made merry early on, bringing up their 50 partnership after just five overs and getting to 100 in the 13th.
Brits, however, survived a pretty strong LBW shout from a fuming Matthews, before bringing up her half century in the 14th over, and was also reprieved on 72 when she was dropped over the boundary for six off Afy Fletcher in the 21st over.
Wolvaardt was relatively untroubled as she brought up her fifty in the 16th over, while Brits reached her century in the 26th over by hitting Alleyne for a four and then a single to reach the mark.
Brits was finally first to fall, skying a ball from Fletcher to Matthews at mid-on in the 27th over, and her dismissal sparked a mini collapse for the Proteas as they lost four wickets for 23 runs off 6.5 overs, with the hosts fighting back.
Wolvaardt and Shangase (9) were both bowled by Fletcher in her last over and Luus (4) popped a return catch back to Matthews, as they slipped to 207-4 after 33 overs when the players went off for a short rain delay.
On their return Kapp, 34* off 42 (2x4) tried to guide the middle order as she shared in a 25-run stand with Jafta (11) and a 32-run partnership with Dercksen (12) as they took their side past 250.
Jafta and Dercksen were both caught going aerial for runs, off the bowling of Claxton and Alleyne respectively, while Chloe Tryon (10*) was at the crease with Kapp when the rain came down again to end the innings.
PROTEAS WOMEN: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Nondumiso Shangase, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Chloe Tryon, Masabata Klaas, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune
WEST INDIES WOMEN: Hayley Matthews (capt), Qiana Joseph, Stafanie Taylor, Chinelle Henry, Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Jannillea Glasgow, Aaliyah Alleyne, Zaida James, Jahzara Claxton, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack
