'Funny enough, I'm not one for records, but when you mention Meg Lanning, I'm glad I'm above that one. As long as we are winning the games, then I'm all good.'
Proteas batter Tazmin Brits expressed her delight after being named Player of the Match for her match-winning century against New Zealand. Opening the innings alongside skipper Laura Wolvaardt in pursuit of 232, Brits anchored the chase with poise and power.
Her ton marked a historic fifth century of the year, the most by any woman in a calendar year. The previous record -- four hundreds -- belonged to India’s Smriti Mandhana, who achieved the feat twice, in 2024 and 2025. Brits also became the fastest woman to reach seven ODI hundreds, surpassing Australian great Meg Lanning.
"It feels great. I'm glad that we could pull this one through. We definitely needed it after the first game," said Brits.
"(On becoming the fastest woman to hit seven ODI centuries, surpassing Meg Lanning) Funny enough, I'm not one for records, but when you mention Meg Lanning, I'm glad I'm above that one. As long as we are winning the games, then I'm all good."
"(Key to success) 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 be one-dimensional."
"(Today's game-plan) I just said I'm going to be as positive as possible; we needed this win, just get out, middle all the balls. It's actually funny -- it was a new bat. I haven't used it once. I think that's going to be the lucky bat from now on."
"(On her bow-and-arrow celebration) Sinalo actually interviewed us and asked what celebrations next, and I actually put it out to the fans. I said, 'Give me your celebrations, because the 50 will only remain for my dad.' And then I had these two young girls -- they're 13 years old, one stays in Australia, one in South Africa -- but they come from South Africa, and they asked me to do their celebration. So yeah, that celebration was for them."
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine admitted disappointment after her team’s defeat, despite believing their total of 231 was competitive on the surface.
"I think even though it was a different pitch to the first game, I still thought it was a 270–280 wicket. I thought we got ourselves into a position to launch, and then we just continually lost wickets. It's hard to really have a crack at the back end when you're doing that," Devine said.
"So, look, credit has to go to South Africa. The way they batted at the top there, they negated what we threw down at them. Disappointing for us today. I think we'd spoken about it before we even started this competition -- that you're going to have to win a lot of games, and that's no different for us now. It probably puts a little bit more pressure on these remaining games, but I think that's a good thing. We know exactly where we stand and what we have to do."
"We'll go and reflect on this game. There were still some things that went well in both innings, but we know in this competition you can't just play half a game. So, disappointing, but there's still a long way to go in this tournament."
"I would enjoy it a bit more if we'd won! But yeah, I'll certainly sit down with a good mate, Batesy (Suzie Bates), later today and reflect on what's been a pretty long career. I am really grateful and humbled to have had the opportunity to pull on this shirt 300 times. It's certainly not lost on me every time I do. I just want to give my absolute best to this group and to the people back home as well."
The Proteas chased down the target comfortably, reaching it inside 41 overs. The decisive partnership between Brits and Sune Luus ensured there were no nerves, even after a few late wickets. Brits’ brilliant century capped off a perfect comeback for South Africa after their heavy defeat to England earlier in the tournament.