Proteas stalwart Ayabonga Khaka nears another significant milestone

Proteas stalwart Ayabonga Khaka is gearing up to reach another major milestone during the Sri Lankan Women’s one-day international series, with her possibly set to make her 100th international appearance next week.

It will be a huge moment for the 31-year-old, who is currently on 97 caps, and should she play in all three ODI’s she will make her hundredth appearance in the third game at the JB Marks Oval in Potchefstroom next week Wednesday.

Although it won’t be the milestone match, it will still be special if she plays in the opening game of the series as well as it takes place on her home ground of Buffalo Park in East London on Tuesday.

Khaka was born in Middledrift (about 90km outside of East London) and started her cricket journey in grade one at Ingwenya Primary School, where at the age of seven she became the only girl in the boys’ mini cricket team.

She continued playing mini cricket until high school, as it was her only option to play, but then stopped playing for a year as Ntabenkonyana Senior Secondary School didn’t offer it as a sport, which saw her switch to soccer.

However it was a brief switch as in grade nine she started cricket again for Middledrift Women's Cricket Club, where she was eventually noticed and brought into the Border U19 girls’ team and the Border senior provincial team.

In 2009 she got her first taste of national cricket when she was selected for the SA U19 women’s team, and made her senior debut for the Proteas in 2012.

Over her career Khaka has made a number of significant milestones, with most of them coming against Bangladesh, who she debuted against as a 20-year-old in September 2012.

She also took her 50th ODI wicket against Bangladesh in May 2018, as well as her 100th ODI wicket against them in the opening match of the 2022 Women’s Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

If things go to plan Khaka will bring up her latest milestone against Sri Lanka, and it is one that she is really looking forward to.

“I believe every cricketer wants to achieve certain milestones in their career. For me it will be a big milestone and if it happens (in this series) I will be happy and looking forward to it,” said Khaka.

“It’s been a tough but rewarding journey and it has been fun. There have been many ups and downs and I am grateful for where I am. I couldn’t have asked for a better career and I am just grateful to be where I am, playing the game I love.”

In all Khaka has played at two Women’s ODI World Cups (2017 and 2022), and three T20 Women’s World Cups (2016, 2020 and 2023), and as long as she doesn’t get injured, she should on the plane to Bangladesh for this year’s edition in September and October.

Other major moments in Khaka’s career include her only ODI five wicket haul, figures of 5/26 that she produced against the West Indies in January 2022, in a match that ended tied and was eventually won by the visitors in a super over.

Arguably her best ever bowling performance came in the 2023 T20 World Cup semifinal on home soil, where her stunning performance saw her bag 4/29 against England which sent the Proteas through to their first ever World Cup final, where they unfortunately came up short against Australia.

So far this year Khaka has featured in the Proteas multi-format series against Australia Down Under, while she only played in the third T20I against Sri Lanka last week, a game they lost to go down 2-1 in the series.

She will thus hope to make a positive impact in the ODI series as the Proteas look to bounce back while there will also be points up for grabs for the ICC Women’s Championship, which is part of the qualification pathway for the Women’s ODI World Cup in India in 2025.

“We are disappointed with the (T20I series) result. I don’t think we played good cricket in the last two games as a team. But we are looking forward to the ODI’s, especially since there are points up for grabs,” admitted Khaka.

“I am looking forward to the ODI’s. Hopefully I will get a run in the series and I will see how I feel when that time (100 caps) comes. I am feeling good. I had a run in the last T20. It was tough but I am building up slowly.”