The two most in-form batters of the year in women’s ODIs coming into the ICC Women’s World Cup were Smriti Mandhana and Tazmin Brits, having scored four centuries each in the format already in 2025. While Smriti Mandhana has had two chances to improve on that tally but missed out in Guwahati against Sri Lanka and in Colombo against Pakistan, South Africa’s Brits pipped her to the record on Monday in Indore against New Zealand, becoming the first player ever to score five centuries in a calendar year in women’s ODIs. The record was previously held by Mandhana, with four centuries in 2024 as well as 2025.After being bowled out for 69 in Guwahati for a thumping 10-wicket defeat against England, this was a stunning turnaround for Laura Wolvaardt’s side, as they chased down 232 in 40.5 overs to bring their campaign back on track.Brits, who used to be a javelin thrower and won bronze in the 2010 World U20 Championships with a best throw of 54.55m, saw her Olympics dream crushed after a car accident in November 2011. Her dream of going to London 2012 ended there but has the has the Olympic rings tattooed on her right bicep, which you could see as she celebrated her 7th ODI century. She continued throwing javelin till 2018 but more recently, she has been one of South Africa’s star cricketers, batting at the top of the order. She has had a breakthrough over the last couple of years in both white-ball formats, and on Monday, scored her 7th ODI century in just her 41st innings, becoming the fastest to get to this milestone. She broke Meg Lanning’s record of 44 innings.Story continues below this ad“It feels great. I’m glad that we could pull this one through. We definitely needed it after the first game. Funny enough, I’m not one for records, but when you mentioned Meg Lanning, I’m glad I’m above that one, But ya, as long as we are just winning the games, I’m all good,” Brits said after the match.While she took her time to get going as a cricketer – plagued by low strike rates early on in her career – Brits has rapidly evolved into one of South Africa’s best. Her average and strike rate by year in women’s ODIs read thus:2021: 27.33 and 52.222022: 16.33 and 55.052023: 33.22 and 87.942024: 27.55 and 72.512025: 83.22 and 96.14Asked how she has gone about gaining momentum through her career to get to this point, Brits said: “I don’t actually know, I’m just backing myself a bit more. I’m trying to be as positive as I can. We actually had a lot of batting camps. I think that definitely helped. I’m trying to expand my batting a bit more and not to be one dimensional. In this chase, I just said I’m gonna be as positive as possible. I mean, we needed this win, so, yeah, just glad I middled all the balls. It’s actually funny, it was a new bat. I haven’t used it once, so yeah, I think that’s gonna be the lucky bat from now on.”Earlier in the day, Sophie Devine continued her sublime form with yet another fluent half-century, but South Africa fought back brilliantly through left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba’s four-wicket haul to bowl out the former champions for a modest 231.Story continues below this adMaking her 300th international appearance, the 2024 T20 World Cup-winning captain Devine once again led from the front, crafting a composed 85 runs off 98 deliveries under pressure even as wickets tumbled around her. She raised her 17th ODI fifty off 65 balls and struck nine fours, appearing to bat on a different surface altogether on a Holkar Stadium pitch that had produced 326 runs in the previous game. However, Mlaba’s late burst and sharp South African fielding turned the innings on its head as she returned figures of 4/40 in an incisive second spell. Reintroduced in the 39th over after a quiet spell, Mlaba’s second spell of 5-0-18-4 proved decisive as she triggered a collapse that saw New Zealand lose their last five wickets for just 37 runs before being bundled out in 47.5 overs.Mlaba first removed the dangerous Brooke Halliday (45 off 37 balls, 6×4), who had injected momentum into the innings with positive strokeplay in an 86-run stand with Devine. She then dismissed Devine, denying the Kiwi captain back-to-back World Cup hundreds after her 112 against Australia five days ago. Devine, looking to force the pace, was bowled after missing a skidding delivery that brushed her pad before hitting the stumps.Earlier, the day began disastrously for New Zealand when veteran Suzie Bates, playing her 350th international match, was dismissed for a golden duck off the very first ball. Georgia Plimmer (31 off 68) and Amelia Kerr (17) went into a shell as the South African bowlers kept things tight, restricting the scoring rate to under four an over. At the halfway stage, New Zealand were 101 for 2, struggling to accelerate on a surface slower than the one used in their previous match against Australia. Sixteen of their first 20 overs’ runs had come in wides, underlining the lack of fluency in their batting. Plimmer’s painstaking stay finally ended when she holed out to long-on off Chloe Tryon (1/43), trying to break the shackles. Her dismissal brought in Halliday, whose counter-attacking approach immediately lifted the tempo with crisp drives and backfoot punches. But once Mlaba struck twice in quick succession, removing Halliday and Maddy Green (4) the innings lost steam again. Mlaba also effected a sharp run-out to dismiss Isabella Gaze (10) following a poor call by Devine, as New Zealand slumped from 187/4 to 212/7.(With PTI inputs)