Tazmin Brits came into a World Cup semifinal, less than 12 months after contemplating giving up cricket, and turned into Wonder Woman. She crashed, bashed and walloped her way to an innings of 68 runs off 55 balls hitting six fours and two sixes — including an inside/out lofted cover drive, in which she lifted a full ball from Nat Sciver-Brunt, delivered 20cm outside leg-stump, over extra cover for four. The batting done, there followed her fielding. A conventional catch at midwicket to dismiss Sophia Dunkley arrested England’s momentum. A sensational diving effort, poaching the ball millimetres off the ground with her right hand followed to dismiss Alice Capsey two balls later. Shabnim Ismail, the bowler, screamed in delight, charged towards Brits and despite being almost half her size, lifted Brits off her feet. “I have no idea how I got there,” said Brits, “my legs were so heavy from batting, but I got there and it stuck. ” Once they started moving me everywhere, the ball kept following me and at one stage, they even wanted to give me the ball to bowl and I don’t bowl at all. ” Brits had to leave the field, having grazed her forearm in completing the second catch. “The physio initially thought I’d dislodged a bone, then it looked like the vein had popped. “He said to me I had to stay off. I told him, ‘I need to get back on that field. ’ “The doctor just made sure that everything was OK. ” She returned, took two more catches, including a smart reflex effort at short fine leg to get rid of Danni Wyatt. Given the batter, there’s an argument that the fourth catch was the hardest of the bunch. Nadine de Klerk was magnificent with the ball and dished up another intelligent slower ball, that Sciver-Brunt, the tournament’s leading wicket-taker, dragged towards long-on where Brits, had to wait what felt like an eternity, to snaffle the ball. De Klerk’s manic celebrations along with Brits, a former javelin thrower who missed out on the Olympics in 2012, who almost hurled the ball into the president's suite from Kelvin Grove End, spoke to the importance of that wicket. In between she pulled off some stunning stops on the ground, including a diving stop on the midwicket boundary that saved four. So what was better, the four catches or the runs? “As a batter, it’s the runs. It can be difficult to get the ball through the field, especially when you have to go at 10 an over. ” She and Laura Wolvaardt, who scored 53 off 44 balls, shared an opening stand of 96. As they did in the final group match against Bangladesh, they gradually upped the scoring tempo, providing Marizanne Kapp with the opportunity to hit 18 runs off the final over, including a pair of fours off the final two balls. Hailed here on Friday, Brits reflected on almost giving up the sport, when she was on tour with the national side in the UK last year. “When it gets a bit harder, you tend to think that’s the easy way out. I’m 32 at the moment, and I’d thought golf would be a better job. “I like the Longest Drive competition, it's much less stressful. ” After failing to make a persuasive argument during a poor series in Ireland, she was dropped for the One-Day series against England and only returned for the final T20 match on that tour, making a 50 in the process. “I think the selectors made a mistake not playing me in the England One-Day series last year and I made that clear to them when we had our ‘Professional Development Plans’ discussions last year. “They see me as a T20 player only. I feel I am capable of playing all the formats. “It’s not nice being left at home. If you’re left at home too often, you think, ‘maybe I should save the nation and do something different, become a teacher. ’ “But when you look again, you get into the side for the last T20 against England, make 50 and then you go again — it's a funny game, you’re on top one day and then you’re at the bottom,” said Brits. She and the Proteas left Newlands on Friday night, very much on top. From contemplating golf or going into a classroom, Brits turned into Wonder Woman and is now one of the most celebrated cricketers in the nation. Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times . Just R20 for the first month. .