On Monday night, Brits struck 101 runs as South Africa secured a six-wicket win over New Zealand in Indore.

Her century is the fifth of the year, setting a new record for the most three-figure scores by a woman cricketer in a single calendar year. It also marked a stylish comeback for South Africa after their tournament-opening defeat against England.

Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits - Cricinfo

In addition, Brits surpassed the record of Australian great Meg Lanning, who, until Monday, held the record as the fastest player to score seven career ODI centuries. Lanning achieved it in 44 WODIs, while Brits reached the milestone in just 41 one-day games.

The latest century lifted Brits two places to fourth on the ICC rankings, making her the highest-ranked South African batter. Captain Laura Wolvaardt, who has had a slightly quieter run of form recently, dropped three spots to seventh.

Australia’s Ash Gardner is close behind Brits, climbing seven places to her personal-best of fifth among batters with 697 rating points. Against New Zealand, Gardener, struck a match-winning and career-best 115, to boost her individual points.

Speaking after her knock against the White Ferns on Monday night, Brits said it was a lot of fun out in the middle, though she singled out her 101* against Pakistan in Lahore as her favourite of the five centuries.

“That one was tough - Marizanne Kapp and I batted for long periods, and I really had to dig deep and grind for every run,” Brits said.

“This one against New Zealand was a bit of fun - for some reason, I was middling the ball better - but the century in Pakistan was the hardest I’ve had to make.

Ash Gardener - Cricinfo

“We’ve been doing a lot of batting camps, working on my stance and shot execution. I’ve just been putting in the hard work.”

Meanwhile, the Proteas will be back in action on Thursday when they face co-hosts India at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The first ball is scheduled for 11:30.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport