Yvonne van Mentz is a South African former

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by str ...

er who played as an

all-rounder An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a handful of batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are consi ...

. She appeared in four Test matches for

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in 1960 and 1961, all against England. She scored South African's first century in Women's Test cricket, with 105 * in the fourth Test of the series. She played domestic cricket for Southern Transvaal and

Natal NATAL or Natal may refer to: Places * Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, a city in Brazil * Natal, South Africa (disambiguation), a region in South Africa ** Natalia Republic, a former country (1839–1843) ** Colony of Natal, a former British colony ( ...

Career

All of van Mentz's appearances for South Africa occurred during the England women's cricket team tour of South Africa in 1960–61. She first faced England during a warm-up match for the touring side, appearing for Southern Transvaal. Batting as part of the top order, she top-scored for her side, scoring nine fours as part of her 68 runs. She also opened the bowling for Southern Transvaal, but bowled for 15 overs without taking a wicket. In the first

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film), ...

against England, she batted at number seven, and made scores of 11 and 15 in the two innings. She also claimed three wickets in the match. After playing for a South African XI against England without making a significant impact, van Mentz was South Africa's leading wicket-taker in the second Test, taking four wickets as England declared their innings closed on 351 for 6. She then scored 17 and 11 in each innings as South Africa were forced to

follow on In the game of cricket, a team who batted second and scored significantly fewer runs than the team who batted first may be forced to follow-on: to take their second innings immediately after their first. The follow-on can be enforced by the team ...

, eventually forcing a draw. She had little impact in the third Test, making scores of three in both innings, and taking no wickets. In the fourth Test, van Mentz scored South Africa's first century in women's Test cricket, remaining 105

not out In cricket, a batter is not out if they come out to bat in an innings and have not been dismissed by the end of an innings. The batter is also ''not out'' while their innings is still in progress. Occurrence At least one batter is not out at t ...

when South Africa declared on 266 for 8. The match eventually concluded as a draw. Her score is the highest of just two centuries by South African women in Test cricket, the other being a total of exactly 100 by Brenda Williams. She still holds the record for the highest Test score by any woman cricketer when batting at number 6 (105*), and she was the first female cricketer to score a Test century when batting at number 6 or lower in Women's Test history.

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Mentz, Yvonne Living people Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) South African women cricketers South Africa women Test cricketers Central Gauteng women cricketers KwaZulu-Natal Coastal women cricketers