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Marizanne Kapp provides the solution if, like me, you’ve ever questioned why women play one-off Test matches, frequently without any red-ball domestic structure to assist them prepare.
“That 150 against England, when we were in so much trouble, changed the way I approached batting. ust prior to that, I started working a lot with [former New Zealand men’s international] Kruger van Wyk, who is our fielding coach. We just worked on a few mental things and upped my game.”
The game Kapp is referring to happened at Taunton in June 2022. It was South Africa’s first Test match in over seven years. When Kapp reached the crease after they were put to bat, they were 47 for 4. After facing 213 balls for her 150 and batting for the majority of the remaining four hours and 26 minutes of the innings, things changed.
Following that knock, Kapp amassed an incredible 836 runs at an average of 59.71 (against a career average of 34.33) in 20 ODIs, which included two of her three hundreds. She raised her strike rate from 103.58 to 130.99 in 23 Twenty20 Internationals, scored 486 runs at 27.00 (up from an overall average of 20.98), and reduced her balls-per-boundary rate from 11.73 to 5.62 in the three years before that.
This indicates that Kapp has joined the women’s power-hitting revolution since she has gone from scoring a boundary every two overs to one per over, which in the shortest format makes a huge impact.
A few years ago, Kapp fit into South Africa’s middle order behind people like Lizelle Lee, Dane van Niekerk, and Mignon du Preez. However, her job now is different. Since all three of them are now retired, South Africa had the chance to move Kapp up to the No. 3 position, where she has remained since January of last year.
Like most cricketers, Kapp believes there is “nothing better than playing for your country and playing in World Cups,” even though she supports giving leagues higher priority in the schedule. This is especially true as South Africa continues to advance.
Despite the fact that “we probably didn’t play our best cricket,” they made it to the final last year and “managed to rock up on the day of the semi-final and performed.”
Expectations are rising at home that they may perform even better this year, despite the absence of Shabnim Ismail, a vital member of their previous squad, due to retirement. Without her, South Africa would have lost a great deal of talent and experience in bowling, and Kapp would have to take on more responsibility once more
Kapp has an excellent grasp of her new role. She has claimed 48 wickets at an average of 16.31 in the first six overs since the beginning of 2023, accounting for 70% of her overall wicket total. This is also the area from which she is hardest to escape. She is still a formidable threat in T20s due to her ability to find swing up front, and she is willing to bowl her entire over count early.
In addition, it can be satisfying. Knowing that she only has a short time remaining in the game—Kapp is rumoured to be considering the 50-over World Cup of the next year as a kind of farewell—she is concentrating on what she can still accomplish rather than what she shouldn’t. “My confidence doubled with just one or two knocks against the major sides. I now think I’m capable of doing it as a batsman in addition to a bowler.”.