Retiring Irené left her mark as leader

After a dedicated career of 13 years as a competitive cricketer, former Namibia women’s captain Irené van Zyl officially bid farewell to the game on Monday.Van Zyl, now 40, played her last match for the Capricorn Eagles on 7 December last year against hosts Hong Kong as part of a quadrangular T20 tournament, also involving China and Thailand, who won the tournament by inning three out of three matches.On the day, Namibia won the match by four wickets (with two balls remaining) after restricting Hong Kong to 81/8, with Kayleen Green the player of the match with 18* off 20 balls and 1/17.According to stats website Cricinfo, Van Zyl represented Namibia in 67 women’s international T20 matches since her debut against Botswana in Windhoek in April 2019.Her career-best bowling figures (four wickets for seven runs in 4 overs, against Uganda in May 2019) is fourth on the list of Namibian bowlers, led by Wilka Mwatile’s 5/6 in 4 overs against Cameroon in Gaborone in September 2021.Van Zyl ended her career with 47 wickets in women’s T20Is – fourth on the Namibian all-time list after Kayleen Green (73), Wilka Mwatile (63) and Victoria Hamunyela (54). Fifth-placed Sylvia Shihepo, with 44 wickets, and Arrasta Diergaardt (36) will be looking to overtake Van Zyl’s total, starting during their upcoming quadrangular tour against hosts Uganda, Nepal and Hong Kong next week.Van Zyl takes up a lower ranking on the all-time run-scorers list, placing ninth on the Namibian list (270 runs; average 10.38; strike rate 57.6) led by Yasmeen Khan on 1442 runs in 85 matches (80 innings; average 22.18; strike rate 95.30) and Van Zyl’s successor as captain, Suné Wittmann (1198 runs in 66 innings; ave 19.96; strike rate 95.30).Van Zyl captained Namibia in 45 women’s T20 internationals.

Retiring Irené left her mark as leader

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Republikein 2025-03-06

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Retiring Irené left her mark as leader

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