The South African women's cricket team hve etched an unforgettable chapter in their record books throughout 2024. From the electrifying atmosphere of the T20 World Cup final to their soaring successes in ODIs, the journey has been marked by resilience, emerging talent, and standout performances that have captured the hearts of fans across the nation.
Here, Ongama Gcwabe looks back at their year.
T20Is
TWO back-to-back World Cup finals in two years, for any team in the world, tells the story of a really good team. The Proteas women achieved this feat in the T20 World Cup here at home in 2023 and in the UAE this year, as South Africa put to bed the chockers conversation.
Interestingly, captain Laura Wolvaardt led a team that battled in bilateral T20 series all year long. From their tour Down Under in January to the year-ending inbound Tour of the England Lionesses, South Africa struggled to win T20 series, with the side's only series victory this year being in Pakistan just before the start of the World Cup in the UAE.
Despite the series losses, the team had positive signs leading into the World Cup, including the historic six-wicket victory against Australia in Australia. Moreover, having lost a number of senior players to retirement, the team's budding youngsters, including Annerie Dercksen, Ayanda Hlubi and Eliz-Mari Marx, established themselves as serious cricketers in international cricket.
In the Word Cup, South Africa managed to string together victories, including a monumental victory over Australia in the semi-final, as Wolvaardt and her troops became the first Proteas side – men and women – to beat the old enemy in the knockout stages of a showpiece ICC event.
Although a World Cup trophy continued to elude South Africa this year, the team took steps in the right direction as the country continues its search for World Cup glory.
Standout player: Laura Wolvaardt
Most improved player: Nadine de Klerk
One for the future: Annerie Dercksen
My highlight: Anneke Bosch's unbeaten 74 to help South Africa beat Australia in the World Cup semi-final.
ODIs
While South Africa struggled in the shortest format, they thrived in One-day International cricket, as the batters had more time to build an innings and bowlers more overs to find their rhythm.
To open their account this year, South Africa gave Australia – the No 1 ranked and most decorated team in the world– a good run for their money in a three-match series Down Under. The Proteas Women lost that series 2-1 but made Australia sweat in their own backyard and even registered a historic victory over the mighty Aussies.
In the larger scheme of things, ODI cricket this year has been about maintaining a decent position in the 2022/25 ICC Women's Championship standings, as the team look to secure automatic qualification in next year's World Cup in India.
Having gone through their 2024 ICC Women's Championship fixtures over the past two years, South Africa have secured automatic qualification having won 12, lost 11 with one no-result match.
During this time, Wolvaardt has led from the front scoring over 1 200 runs, including five centuries as she sits at the top of the run-scorers list in the Championship. Marizanne Kapp sits at ninth place on the same list with two tons of her own, as the experienced all-rounder held the middle-order together this year.
Standout player: Laura Wolvaardt
One for the future: Ayanda Hlubi
My highlight: The historic 84-run victory over Australia in Australia.
Tests
If there is a format that the Proteas are lagging behind by a considerable margin, it is the longest format. It is easy to understand why the Proteas women are so behind given that the team has played only 10 Tests since their maiden Test in the 1960s.
It doesn't help that there is no women's domestic first-class cricket in the country either. This year, the Proteas women have played three Tests, all against the ‘Big Three’ – Australia, India and England – and have lost all of them, including one at home in Bloemfontein against the Lionesses.
Despite the results, there has been a number of standout performances, including the ever-present Wolvaardt and Sune Luus. They both scored centuries in Chepauk, India, while Nonkululeko Mlaba's 10-for at the Mangaung Oval was also a might effort.
Standout player: Nonkululeko Mlaba
My highlight: Nonkululeko Mlaba's 10-for against the England Women in Bloemfontein in the one-off Test.