South Africa left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba became the first women to take a 10-wicket-haul in a Test match for South Africa today (December 17), as she ran through England in Bloemfontein.
Mlaba took four wickets in England's first innings, as well as effecting a run out as the tourists declared nine down on 395. After South Africa conceded a first innings deficit of 114, Mlaba was once again their most threatening bowler.
She got first-innings centurion Nat Sciver-Brunt, who chopped onto her stumps in the morning session, and picked up Amy Jones and Charlie Dean in quick succession after the interval, getting both for the second time in the match. After trapping Sophie Ecclestone plumb lbw, Mlaba accounted for Heather Knight on 90, pinning the England captain on her pads with no DRS available.
That wicket sealed Mlaba's five-for, but her final wicket of Ryana MacDonald-Gay - bowled through the gate - gave her 10 in the match. No South Africa bowler had previously taken 10 wickets in a women's Test, with South Africa having only played 16 women's Tests in their history. The bowler who previously had the most wickets in a women's Test for South Africa was Sunette Loubser, who took 8-59 against the Netherlands in Rotterdam in 2007.
Her figures were also the 12th best for any bowler in women's Tests, and the third best this century. Mlaba has now moved up into second on the overall standings for wickets in women's Tests for South Africa, having picked up 13 across four appearances, still some way off Lorna Ward in first place with 27.
Best bowling figures in women's Tests
| Player | Figures | Team | Opposition | Ground | Year |
| Shaiza Khan | 13-226 | Pakistan | West Indies | Karachi | 2004 |
| Ash Gardner | 12-165 | Australia | England | Trent Bridge | 2023 |
| Betty Wilson | 11-16 | Australia | England | Melbourne | 1958 |
| Julia Greenwood | 11-63 | England | West Indies | Canterbury | 1979 |
| Lucy Pearson | 11-107 | England | Australia | Sydney | 2003 |
| Betty Wilson | 10-65 | Australia | New Zealand | Wellington | 1948 |
| Enid Bakewell | 10-75 | England | West Indies | Birmingham | 1979 |
| Jhulan Goswami | 10-78 | India | England | Taunton | 2006 |
| Karen Price | 10-107 | Australia | India | Lucknow | 1984 |
| Anne Gordon | 10-118 | Australia | England | Melbourne | 1969 |
| Jacqueline Lord | 10-137 | New Zealand | Australia | Melbourne | 1979 |
| Nonkululeko Mlaba | 10-157 | South Africa | England | Bloemfontein | 2024 |
| Sneh Rana | 10-188 | India | South Africa | DY Patil | 2024 |
| Sophie Ecclestone | 10-192 | England | Australia | Nottingham | 2023 |
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