Tunnicliffe's maiden half-century powers Proteas Women victory

THERE were several reasons to be grateful for the Proteas’ Women’s series sweep of Ireland at Boland Park yesterday.

- ZAAHIER ADAMS

For starters it ended a run of bilateral series defeats for a team that has reached consecutive T20 World Cup finals. But on an individual level, it also displayed the value of Western Province duo Faye Tunnicliffe and Dane van Niekerk to the national team’s cause.

Tunnicliffe has for a long period been among the leading run-scorers in domestic cricket, but due to a variety of factors has not been able to transfer that form to the international stage since her debut back in 2018 already. Her call-up to the squad for the Ireland series was almost seen as a last-chance saloon, and after Friday's failure at her Newlands home ground the pressure valve was turned up even further here at Boland Park.