For decades, South African cricket has carried a reputation for brilliance in the group stages and heartbreak when it matters most. It’s an old story, from Edgbaston in 1999 to Christchurch in 2022, a kind of collective scar tissue that has stretched across both the men’s and women’s teams. The talent is never in question; it’s the temperament that has so often been tested and found wanting in those from the Rainbow Nation.
But after another against-all-odds comeback win, the Proteas are slowly playing themselves into contention at the 2025 Women’s World Cup.
Reading the Odds
Further evidence of this can be found in the latest online sports betting markets, which now have the Proteas at 15/2 to win the Women’s World Cup outright — shorter than at any stage of the tournament so far and only behind Australia, India, and England.
If you’re wondering what that translates to, this odds calculator shows a £10 bet would return £85, including stake.
From despair to dominance. 🔥#TheProteas Women have stormed to three consecutive wins in their #CWC25 campaign and are hungry for a fourth as they face Sri Lanka Women next! 🏏💪#Unbreakable pic.twitter.com/L0l7F3Vxhq
— Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) October 14, 2025
That’s the measure of what Nadine de Klerk and her teammates have done: turned quiet potential into genuine threat, as illustrated by the scenes on India’s east coast.
A Different Kind of South African Cricketer
In Vizag on October 13, de Klerk gave that story a new paragraph. With South Africa 78 for five chasing 233 against Bangladesh, it looked like another familiar collapse in the making. Shoulders had dropped, and there’s every chance Laura Wolvaardt was already thinking about how to explain another costly defeat. De Klerk, though, stayed in her bubble. She kept the scoreboard ticking, found singles where others might have frozen, and slowly dragged the target back into view. By the time she lifted the winning shot over the leg side, the noise from the dugout said it all: this was no rescue act, but a sign of how much she had grown into South Africa’s most reliable finisher.
De Klerk plays without the hesitation that has haunted so many of her predecessors. Where others tightened up in decisive moments, she seems to embrace the tension. Moreover, the 25-year-old’s innings aren’t just attacking; they’re composed, built on timing, and decision-making.
Earlier in the tournament, she’d done the same against India, making 84 not out from 54 balls to guide South Africa home in a tense chase against the hosts.
A sensational innings from Nadine de Klerk drives South Africa to a three wicket victory over India 👏 pic.twitter.com/91nwwXb0jM
— Sky Sports Cricket (@SkyCricket) October 9, 2025
That temperament — unhurried, uncluttered — is what South African cricket has searched for. It’s what Marizanne Kapp brings with the ball, what AB de Villiers once showed in flashes, what Faf du Plessis tried his whole career to bottle in dressing rooms past. However, de Klerk doesn’t talk about exorcising ghosts; she just bats through them.
Champions in Waiting?
The World Cup, played out under humid skies and unrelenting scrutiny, has seen South Africa grow into the tournament. They’ve beaten India, New Zealand, and now Bangladesh, each time recovering from positions that would once have broken them.
For all the numbers and collapses that haunt their history, what stands out in this campaign is something less tangible: calm. Nadine de Klerk has given South Africa that quality, one that cannot be measured in strike rates or averages. It’s the feeling, finally, that when the game is tight, someone in green is not afraid to finish it.
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