Veteran allrounder Marizanne Kapp excelled with both bat and ball, while skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus also smashed fine half-centuries as South Africa defeated Pakistan by 150 runs (DLS Method) in a rain-affected Women’s World Cup match to go top of the table, here on Tuesday. The 35-year-old Marizanne Kapp slammed an unbeaten 43-ball 68, after Wolvaardt (90) and Luus (61) had struck fine half centuries as the Proteas amassed 312 for 9 in a match initially reduced to 40-overs-a-side.
Marizanne Kapp (3/20) then took three quick wickets to reduce Pakistan to 35/4 in 10 overs before multiple rain delays forced the match to be reduced to 20-overs-a-side. Chasing a revised target of 234 in 20 overs, Pakistan could manage only 83/7. According to ESPNcricinfo, Marizanne Kapp raced past 3,400 runs in WODI cricket.
Marizanne Kapp now has 3,465 runs from 159 matches at an average of 35.72. This was her 17th half-century in the format. Notably, Marizanne Kapp has the third-most runs for SA in WODIs. Meanwhile, the SA all-rounder has completed 175 wickets at 24.56 in the format. She owns the second-most WODI wickets for SA.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : Humidity is very high at 85 percent. Good toss to win because the wicket is dry and has been under covers. First 10 overs will be crucial because of the moisture retention in the wicket. We’re looking at about 270-odd runs on this wicket reckons Alan Wilkins and Mithali Raj in their Pitch Report
Toss : Pakistan Women skipper Fatima Sana won the toss and opted to field with no changes in the Playing XI . South African women skipper Laura Wolvaardt batting first made one change in the Playing XI bringing in Ayabonga Khaka for Masabata Klaas.
Half centuries for Laura Woolvardt, Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp alongside late fireworks from Klerk powers SA to 312 for 9 in 40 overs
Asked to bat, Laura Wolvaardt got going with a boundary off the very first ball but soon saw her opening partner Tazmin Brits depart for her third duck of the tournament, edging Fatima Sana to first slip. A rain interruption of nearly two and a half hours reduced the overs, but it barely mattered as South Africa launched an assault.
Wolvaardt kept the scoreboard ticking with crisp boundaries, while Sune Luus cleared the fence a couple of times and found the gap regularly for fours as South Africa raced past 100 inside 15 overs. Luus brought up a 55-ball half-century with a four and added two more boundaries before falling to Nashra Sandhu, ending a second-wicket stand worth 118 off 93 balls.
After Tazmin Brits bagged a third straight duck, Wolvaardt seemed in fine nick from get-go, negating any early movement the seamers may have got by stepping out to take the attack to the bowlers. Luus was a bit rusty, playing out 11 dots before getting off the mark with a slog sweep for six off left-arm spinner Sadia Iqbal.
That helped trigger an onslaught as Luus raised her fifty – her 17th in ODIs – with a reverse sweep off Iqbal. While she fell soon after, Wolvaardt continued to pile on the runs, bringing up her own half-century off just 42 balls in the 18th over. She went inside out over extra cover when the spinners looked to attack the stumps by going leg-side of the ball. And when they attempted to bowl outside leg, she was able to pepper the gaps between long-on and deep midwicket.
Wolvaardt reached her fifty soon after, only to witness another wicket at the other end when Annerie Dercksen was run out. Marizanne Kapp then joined her skipper and the pair added a brisk 64-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Wolvaardt began finding the big hits in the latter stages of her innings, powering South Africa past 200 in just 29 overs. However, she narrowly missed out on a century, being stumped off Sandhu’s bowling, who also claimed Karabo Meso in the same over, leaving South Africa at 212/5.
Wolvaardt was in sight of a hundred, when she ran past a sharp-turning ball from Sandhu to be stumped, in what was a double-wicket over that left South Africa 212 for 5 in 32 overs. Marizanne Kapp then shifted gears in de Klerk’s company to inflict carnage on a hapless Pakistan attack.
Laura Wolvaardt, the captain, had top scored with 90. Her 118-run second-wicket stand off 92 balls with Sune Luus set the game up, before Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk applied the finishing touches against an attack that looked nowhere near as threatening on a sticky Colombo pitch.
Pakistan briefly found some respite, when they had Annerie Dercksen run out hot on the heels of Luus’ dismissal. However, that brought more misery for them, as Marizanne Kapp joined forces with Wolvaardt and raised a 64-run stand at better than a run-a-ball. Marizanne Kapp brought up a well-paced fifty and Chloe Tryon contributed with some brisk boundaries before being stumped off Sadia Iqbal. Nadine de Klerk then unleashed a blistering knock, including three fours and four sixes.
De Klerk struck two maximums in the 38th over off Sadia while 25 came in the 39th over bowled by Fatima Sana, which included two sixes and four from de Klerk and a six from Marizanne Kapp, taking South Africa past the 300-run mark. Although three wickets fell in the final over, South Africa still managed 11 runs, finishing with a massive total.
Marizanne Kapp’s 3-fer restricts Pakistan to 83 for 7 in 20 overs to hand SA a dominating 150 runs hammering by DLS to Pakistan.
Like Wolvaardt, Muneeba Ali also struck a four off the first ball but the chase went downhill not too long after. Muneeba fell to Ayabonga Khaka, getting a top-edge trying to play across the line, while Sidra Amin got a couple of reprieves. However, she wasn’t able to capitalise on it as she edged a Marizanne Kapp delivery to the ‘keeper, soon after Omaima Sohail was trapped in front in the same over. Kapp bagged her third by having Aliya Riaz caught behind, as Pakistan slipped to 35/4 in 10 overs.
It began to rain again after the 10th over, which meant another reduction with the target revised to 299 in 37. But just as the players got ready to get back on to the field, rain returned, leading to another interruption. It was further revised to 270 in 27 overs and 262 in 25. A couple of overs were bowled before it began to rain again. Credit to the groundsmen, they got it ready just in time before the cut-off.
South Africa rushed through the remaining overs with spin as Nonkululeko Mlaba and Nondumiso Shangase bowled in tandem and finished their quota of four overs each. Natalia Pervaiz was caught behind off Shangase and Sana was bowled in the offspinner’s final over. Tryon and Luus wrapped up the remaining three overs to ensure a result in the game, which was a resounding win for South Africa.
Much of the drama from the second innings came before the lengthy rain interval in Pakistan’s chase. After Muneeba Ali toe-ended a slog to mid-on off Ayabonga Khaka, Marizanne Kapp made a statement with the ball. Omaima Sohail was pinned plumb in front by a nip-backer, while Sidra Amin and Aliya Riyaz were out nicking to devious out swingers. Marizanne Kapp’s figures read 5-0-20-3 at that point to go with her unbeaten half-century, one of three in the South African innings.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Laura Woolvardt the winning SA skipper said : Pretty good. Scoring 312 in 40 overs is really nice from us. Kappy in the middle was brilliant and Nadine was sensational at the end. Pretty close (to the perfect game). We had someone at the top batting right through. Someone controlling it in the middle. Sune batted well, we had a 100-run stand and we finished strongly so we ticked all the boxes.
We thought seamers would be big upfront. Kappy and Aya were excellent and taking a few wickets shifted the Duckworth-Lewis in our favor. (spinners) Luckily we played all 4 today, time-wise otherwise Nadine would have bowled from a couple of steps or something. Obviously they had to do some speed-bowling at the end there, but good they got a bowl.
Fatima Sana the loosing Pakistan skipper said : Today’s the day the bowlers did not perform well. We have to accept it. The way they played was awesome. We need to be more calm in those situations. After the 2nd over, before the rain, and after the rain, totally different conditions, the ball’s wet.
We tried to bowl on the stumps and good length, because of wet situations, the bowlers didn’t execute today. We still have a belief, because the pitch is good, the way they played, it was very easy and the batters didn’t get the partnerships. We just need to believe in ourselves.
Marizanne Kapp Player of the Match for her all -round performance said : Beautiful wicket to bat on. Bit annoyed that we didn’t get to play the full fifty overs. Had a lot of fun. Earlier batters set a beautiful platform for us and made our job easy to come in and play our natural game.
Gave myself a few balls to get in. I actually enjoy batting at five. Honestly I didn’t bowl too well. Wasn’t happy with my bowling. Bowled better in previous games. Happy to get the rewards. We saw in the previous game how well Klaasy bowled. Feel like everyone’s been bowling really well.
A dominant batting performance set up South Africa’s fifth straight victory in a rain-hit game as they knocked Pakistan out of semifinal contention with a 150-run win (DLS method) in Colombo, and moved to the top of the table. In a game reduced to 40 overs per side, South Africa rode on Laura Wolvaardt’s well-paced 90, brisk half-centuries from Sune Luus and Marizanne Kapp, and a whirlwind 41 off 16 from Nadine de Klerk to post 312 for 9.
The DLS revised target for Pakistan, which was initially 306 in 40 overs, was revised a few more times owing to more rain interruptions. The game was in danger of being called off but a result was eventually achieved, with Pakistan finishing with 83/7 chasing a revised 234 in 20 overs.
At 35, Marizanne Kapp shows no signs of slowing down. Her unbeaten 68 off 43 balls, which helped power South Africa’s highest World Cup total, was just the appetiser to the main course – a menacing opening burst that brought her 3 for 20 to knock Pakistan out of the Women’s World Cup. This set up a dominant 150 run-win (via DLS) on a rainy Colombo night, where the groundstaff miraculously delivered a result that didn’t seem possible at different stages of the night.
Finally rain relented to allow us a 20-over game which was enough for South Africa. Pakistan were never in the chase and at one stage it looked like the rain will give them a point. But it stopped just in time to allow a 20-over game. South Africa rushed through their overs by bowling spin.
Earlier Marizanne Kapp struck three blows to dent Pakistan. The bulk of the work was done by South Africa with the bat and once they posted such a massive total, it was always going to be a matter of how much they won by with rain their only threat. With this win, they go top of the table while Pakistan are now eliminated.
South Africa sealed their fifth win in a row that propelled them to the top of the points table, with one game still to play against Australia in Indore. It marked a sensational turnaround from an inauspicious start against England in Guwahati, three weeks ago, where they were shot out for 69 in a ten-wicket pounding.
With semi-final match-ups determined by group-stage standings, South Africa – who had already confirmed their spot – would’ve felt frustrated about sharing points had the game been washed out. Such a result would’ve left them third on the table, behind Australia and England due to an inferior net run-rate. Eventually, they managed to get in 20 overs in the second innings to constitute a game.
Huge shoutout to the groundstaff at the RPS. Without them, we would have got a no-result for sure. They ensured they didn’t slack off despite frustrating delays of which there were many. South Africa at the end after the game, showed their appreciation by going over to thank them. A crucial two points and it takes them top of the table.
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