Tazmin Brits became the second South African, after captain Laura Wolvaardt, to cross 2,000 T20I runs when she slammed an unbeaten 114 to power South Africa to a commanding 208/1 against the Netherlands in Bristol on 25 June 2026.
The 35-year-old opener’s century, recorded in South Africa’s fourth game of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, not only pushed her career tally to 2,072 T20I runs but also marked her maiden T20I hundred, a tournament landmark, and a new benchmark for South African individual scoring in the history of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
Set up by a toss decision from Netherlands skipper Babette de Leede, who chose to field, South Africa’s openers exploded out of the blocks. Brits and Wolvaardt raced away in the power play, putting on 66 at 11 runs an over. The early surge, aided by pressure on the inexperienced Dutch side that led to fielding lapses and a couple of dropped chances, set the tone for what became one of the tournament’s most clinical batting displays.
The opening stand blossomed into a dominant 121-run partnership before Annerie Drecksen’s brisk cameo (37* off 16) combined with Brits to add an unbeaten 87 for the second wicket, taking South Africa to 208/1 in their 20 overs. Their total was the fifth instance of a side breaching 200 in this edition.
Tazmin Brits’ 114* off 69 balls featured 15 fours and three sixes, and it came with the additional honour of making her the record 3rd centurion in this World Cup and the ninth overall in Women’s T20 World Cup history. Her knock also made her only the second South African to register a World Cup T20 century, joining former wicket-keeper batter Lizelle Lee’s landmark in 2020. With that innings, she set the record for the highest individual score by a South African in the tournament’s history.
The chase began promisingly for the Netherlands, who reached 100/1 inside 15 overs, but a spin-triggered collapse wiped away momentum as they lost seven wickets for just 20 runs and were restricted to 120/8, an 88-run defeat. Brits’ match-defining century earned her Player of the Match and completed a Proteas hat-trick of wins, moving South Africa to six points from four games and third on the points table.
Tazmin Brits’ journey to this landmark is notable for its steadiness and late bloom. She made her international T20 debut on 19 May 2018 against Bangladesh at Bloemfontein and, across 82 matches and 79 innings, has compiled 2,072 runs at an average of 32.37 and a strike rate of 107.97, including 15 fifties and now her first unbeaten century. Within South Africa’s T20I pecking order, she is the second-highest run-scorer after Wolvaardt; across ICC Women’s T20 World Cups, this is her third campaign since debuting at the tournament in 2023.
Her World Cup numbers underline her consistency on the biggest T20 stage: 527 runs in 14 innings at a striking 113.57 and an average of 47.9, with three half-centuries and now this century. In the 2026 edition specifically, Brits is South Africa’s top scorer and sits fourth overall in the tournament with 154 runs at a blistering strike rate of 146.66 from two innings, an especially impressive return given she missed South Africa’s first two matches in the campaign.
For South Africa, Brits’ century is more than an individual milestone; it is a timely exemplar of form and experience as they press their case in a tightly contested tournament. At 35, Brits combines the calm of a seasoned opener with the power to convert starts into match-winning tallies, and her performance in Bristol will raise expectations for the Proteas’ batting as they pursue deeper progress in the World Cup.
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