South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt’s record century helped her team crush Ireland by 105 runs in the first T20I on Saturday, December 6 at Newlands in Cape Town. Wolvaardt scored an unbeaten 115* (56) and smashed 15 fours and four sixes in her innings to help South Africa post a massive score of 220/2 in their allotted 20 overs – their highest in T20Is.
After losing her opening partner Faye Tunnicliffe (1) by just four runs on the board, Wolvaardt stitched a massive 176-run stand for the second wicket with Sune Luus (81 off 51) off 96 balls. Wolvaardt brought up her half-century in just 24 balls and took another 28 deliveries to reach her century in 52 deliveries – the fastest ever by a South African woman.
She surpassed compatriot Lizelle Lee’s 59-ball century against Thailand at the 2020 FIFA T20 World Cup. Wolvaardt also joined an elite group of ten Full Member players with several women’s T20I hundreds when he previously scored a century against Sri Lanka in 2024.
Meanwhile, in the second innings, Ireland capitulated under the pressure of a huge score and were bowled out for 115 in 18 overs. Leah Paul (34 off 23) and captain Gaby Lewis (30 off 29) were the only two players to break the 20-run mark for the visitors as Luus also shone with the ball.
Apart from that, he scalped 4/22 in four overs while Nonkululeko Mlaba (2/9) and Chloe Tryon (2/14) scalped two wickets each. Despite her all-round show, Luus could not steal the Player of the Match award from Wolvaardt for her record-breaking century.
After a commanding victory in the opening leg of the series, the two teams will face each other in the 2nd T20I on Saturday, December 6 at Boland Park, Paarl.
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
December 6, 2025
