Laura Wolvaardt created history during her side's one-off Test against India in Chennai, becoming the first South African woman to score a century at the international level in all three formats of the game.
South Africa endured a difficult first three days, as they watched the hosts rack up 603-6 declared in the first innings. Shafali Verma (205), Smriti Mandhana (149), Richa Ghosh (86), Harmanpreet Kaur (69) and Jemimah Rodrigues (55) all scored in excess of 50.
The visitors then went in to bat, but lost captain Laura Wolvaardt early for 20 before Sune Luus (65) and Marizanne Kapp (74) put on 93 for the third wicket. But once Luus was trapped lbw by Deepti Sharma, the floodgates opened. The next seven wickets went down for just 77 runs, as off-spinner Sneh Rana ran through the lineup to take 8-77, the third-best bowling figures in women's Test cricket.
Best bowling figures in a Women's Test innings:
— Wisden (@WisdenCricket) July 1, 2024
Neetu David: 8-53 vs England
Ash Gardner: 8-66 vs England
Sneh Rana: 8-77 vs South Africa
Sneh Rana became the third bowler to take eight wickets in a single innings in a women's Test👏
Read more: https://t.co/lJI5xDjSSd pic.twitter.com/VPwoB3oAwU
Asked to follow on, South Africa once again lost an early wicket, Anneke Bosch for 9. But Wolvaardt and Luus then got together to stitch 190 runs before Luus was bowled by Harmanpreet Kaur for 109 late on day three. They finished the day's play on 232-2, trailing by 105 runs. Wolvaardt was batting on 93, with Marizanne Kapp for company.
In the second over day four, Wolvaardt tucked Renuka Singh into the leg side to bring up her maiden Test century off 259 balls, in just her third match. An average of 12.8 from five innings, and a high score of 20 before this knock underlined an underwhelming start to her red-ball career.
Wolvaardt becomes first SA woman to score a century in all three formats
Wolvaardt became the sixth South African woman to register a Test century, after Yvonne van Mentz, Brenda Williams, Mignon du Preez, Marizanne Kapp and Sune Luus.
Perhaps more significantly, she became the first woman and third player overall from South Africa to score a century in each format of international cricket. Du Preez, Kapp and Luus all have scored centuries in ODIs but not T20I cricket. Lizelle Lee has made hundreds in both white-ball formats, but not in Test cricket.
A maiden Test ton for captain Wolvaardt 💯
— JioCinema (@JioCinema) July 1, 2024
Watch the final day's action unfold LIVE, only on #Sports18 & #JioCinema 📲 #JioCinemaSports #IDFCFirstBankWomensTest #INDvSA pic.twitter.com/53HIN3esDG
In fact, only two other women have achieved this feat before across international cricket. England's Heather Knight was the first to do so, when she brought up her maiden T20I century against Thailand in February 2020. Teammate Tammy Beaumont joined her in June 2023, after she scored a Test double century against Australia. A total of 23 men's players have accomplished this, including two South Africans in Faf du Plessis and Quinton de Kock.
Wolvaardt registered the first of her eight ODI centuries in August 2016, with a knock of 105 against Ireland in Dublin. Her only T20I century came in March this year when she scored 102 against Sri Lanka in Benoni. Interestingly, Wolvaardt's highest international score in each format has come in 2024 — maiden centuries in Test and T20I cricket in June, and an innings of 184* against Sri Lanka in April in ODIs.
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