Sinalo Jafta relieved to finally get monkey off her back in ODI cricket
25th February 2026
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Proteas Women wicket-keeper Sinalo Jafta admitted feeling huge relief when she finally reached her half century milestone in ODI cricket, which came on the occasion of her 50th match for South Africa.
Jafta partnered with Suné Luus at the crease to help their team to a 37-run victory in the first of three matches in Bloemfontein on Sunday, and had a lot to celebrate finishing on 57 not out.
The 31-year-old says she always knew that she was capable of playing a big innings, and draws a lot of confidence from that performance.
"I'm taking a lot of confidence from this, but for me it's really a relief because I always knew it was possible. If you look at the full picture, I just had to have belief and going forward my approach won't change."
It took Jafta 10 years to finally notch up her 50 in the format and while she conceded that it would have happened earlier if it was up to her, she’s a firm believer in everything happening when the time is right.
The feat came at a cost to Jafta’s partner on the day as Luus finished on a haunting 97, just three from her third ODI ton.
She revealed what the conversation was between them in the middle.
"Sune was like 'you're hot so I'm just going to give you the singles'. We wanted to take it as deep as possible and Sune put the team first saying that I'm the one striking the ball so she gave me as much of the strike as she could, and when I got my 50, I was really working hard to try and help her reach her 100 milestone."
Proteas Women coach Mandla Mashimbyi has made it no secret that his selection process is driven by the 2029 World Cup vision, with a lot of youngsters stepping up to the senior team.
Jafta says the coach has sold them his vision, and are just trusting him as their leader.
