Sune Luus hits 150 caps as Proteas Women's 'new breed' transform South African cricket

Proteas Women’s stalwart Sune Luus has been there, done that and just fell short in a couple of World Cup finals.

In the early hours of this morning she added to her illustrious record after taking the field for Proteas Women’s in the second One Day International New Zealand in another milestone match.

The veteran all-rounder became only the second South African woman to reach the milestone of 150 caps for South Africa, a testament to her longevity and importance to the national side since making her debut as a 16-year-old in 2012.

But, for all her experience, Luus has rarely encountered the type of confidence and free spirit with which the new breed of Proteas Women’s youngsters are playing the game with, especially the talented Kayla Reyneke, who has taken to international cricket like a duck to water.

Reyneke has been the talk of the town after hitting a six off the final ball to help the team win the first ODI against the White Ferns. Coming in at No 8, her knock of a 42 off 32 balls basically won the South Africans the game, while the blow off the final delivery showed her winning mentality.

Luus says the fearlessness of the next generation is a major positive for the future of the Proteas Women and the performance of the team's debutants has particularly impressed her.

It’s in stark contrast to when she started playing at this level, where keeping your wicket intact was more important than trying to hit the ball out of the ground.

“It was great to see the debutant taking that responsibility. It's a great sign for the future of South African cricket,” Luus said.

“It’s awesome just to see the players come in and flourish. When we were younger, I can’t remember being that confident or coming in and hitting sixes for fun. It shows how the women’s game has grown.”

With one more ODI to play after this morning's match, Luus emphasised the need for the rest of the batters to step up in the series to help them secure victory and crucial ICC Women’s Championship points that go with it. The Proteas Women are currently second on the table, tied on points with leaders New Zealand.

Avoiding the uncertainty of the qualifiers remains the ultimate goal for the Proteas.

“Any points at this point are very crucial. You don’t want to go to qualifiers and you don’t want to be leaving it up to chance or relying on other teams. Every game is vital.”