Ayabonga Khaka may not have realised her dream of playing in today's T20 World Cup final in Melbourne.
That she's played in all SA's ICC T20 World Cup matches made up for the disappointment of missing the West Indies 2018.
The 27-year-old University of Fort Hare Human Movement Sciences graduate was laid low by a shoulder injury that ruled her out of the game for 14 months.
Shoulder, leg joint and back issues often decrease a bowler's playing lifespan, but Khaka found a way to thrive despite her serious injury.
"It was difficult for me physically and emotionally. It wasn't nice to be injured for as long as I was. It wasn't an easy thing for me and it wasn't a nice time. I had to go through the rehabilitation processes. I had faith that I was going to make a comeback and indeed I did," Khaka said.
"My time away from the game was only about rehab and nothing else. It was a difficult rehab. All I wanted was to get back into the game and I knew I was still going to get back into the game. I never thought about quitting."
Once a cricketer, always a cricketer
Khaka is from Middledrift; one of the Border region's black cricket gold mines. She's been a cricketer from her school days at Ngwenya Primary School and Ntabenkonyana High School in Middledrift.
The lack of cricket at high school pushed her into football, but in 2007, the establishment of women's cricket sent her back to cricket where she played for Middledrift Cricket Club.
That set the ball rolling for provincial representation for Border to a point where she made her international debuts in 2012 against Bangladesh.
She's represented the national team in 60 ODIs and 29 T20s, the last of which was the five-run, Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method assisted loss against Australia in the second T20 World Cup semifinal at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday.
Khaka was part of the 2017 50-over World Cup group that fell at the same stage with a narrow two-wicket loss to eventual champions England.
It was the same England team they beat in the opening game of a tournament where they hardly put a foot wrong.
Van Niekerk's mistake?
Whether Dane van Niekerk miscalculated by chasing, with rain about, Sydney will remain a point of contention, but they were strangled by Australia's clever bowling in their chase of 98 in 13 overs. Australia made 134/5 in their 20 before rain had a say during the break. The importance of reaching play-offs wasn't lost on Khaka.
"It was a big thing for us and something we wanted as a team. We needed to show that we've been working hard and it's nice to see the hard work showing. It meant a lot to us and I hope it changes how women's cricket and women's sport is perceived. We can compete against the best in the world and I hope there can be more investment in women's sport," Khaka said.
"We came to this one knowing what we want and we came as a strong and goal-orientated team. We didn't surprise ourselves by getting this far. The cricket we've played showed we belonged at the play-off stages."
The older of two siblings (a two-year-old brother) felt she could have been in better shape and an even better player if it wasn't for her shoulder impingement. However, she's allowed herself to get over the injury.
"I didn't change much. All I needed was to execute my skills better as I believe I didn't prepare for this World Cup as best I could. I've only been back with the team for six months. If I didn't get injured, I think I would have been better than I am now," Khaka said.
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