Kapp and Wolvaardt fly Proteas flag at WPL

cricket19 March 2023 20:47| © MWP
By:Thahir Asmal
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Marizanne Kapp © Gallo Images

Two South Africans enjoyed a particularly good week at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) as the inaugural edition of this revolutionary competition headed towards its climax.

Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt were the duo to fly the Proteas flag, while there was a performance for the ages by Sophie Devine – the New Zealander coming closest to recording the first century of the tournament when she played one of the best T20 innings of all time.

Allrounder Kapp, a fixture for her franchise Delhi Capitals, helped them book their place in the playoffs by winning one of their two matches this past week.

She shone with both bat and ball in the matches she played, first sending down a miserly four overs for 18 runs, including a maiden, to help restrict Royal Challengers Bangalore to 150 for four and then anchoring the chase with 32* off 32 balls to take her side over the line with two balls to spare.

Kapp was also excellent when Delhi took on Gujarat Giants, but Wolvaardt outshone her in that clash to keep alive the slim playoff prospects of her team. The former claimed one for 24 in four overs with the ball and then top-scored with a key 36 off 29 balls.

But the latter, a replacement for Australian superstar Beth Mooney after she was injured in the opening game, scored a vital 57 off 45 balls (6 fours, 1 six) as 147 for four played 136 all out.

Top-order batter Wolvaardt was witness to one of the great T20 innings in her other match this week where she herself recorded a second half century in as many games. Her blistering 68 off 42 balls lifted the Gujarat to what looked a strong 188 for four.

However, Devine came close to breaking the record for the joint fastest domestic T20 ton when she battered eight sixes and nine fours in her knock of 99 from a mere 36 balls to help break the record for the highest successful chase in women’s major leagues across the world.

MUMBAI AND DELHI IN THE PLAYOFFS

Her team won the game with nearly five overs to spare and her innings left the cricketing world lost for words in trying to find superlatives for her achievement.

The other South Africans at the WPL, Shabnim Ismail, Chloe Tryon and Dane van Niekerk who announced her retirement from international cricket a few days ago, did not feature for their sides this week.

Uttar Pradesh Warriorz pacer Ismail is the only one of the trio to have played a game at the tournament, with the other two having to be content with places on the bench for Mumbai Indians and RCB respectively.

The competition’s joint-most expensive foreign pair, allrounders Ashleigh Gardner and Nat Sciver-Brunt continued to underline their value.

Australian Gardner scored 8, 51* and 41 to go with her five wickets and Sciver-Brunt of England made 36 and 5 as well as claiming four wickets.

Things did improve for the WPL’s most expensive player, India batter Smriti Mandhana, after she hit her top score of 37, which followed further failures of eight and nought in her other two innings over the past seven days.

Things also have improved for her side RCB, who ended their five-match losing streak to start the tournament with successive wins.

Devine heads the batting charts with an aggregate of 266 runs, while little-known slow left-armer Saika Ishaque and Sophie Ecclestone are top of the charts with the ball thanks to their 12 wickets apiece.

The ground-breaking competition is now just four games away from the playoffs with two of the top three who will contest the playoffs having already been confirmed.

That pair are Tryon’s Mumbai as well as Kapp’s team Delhi with either the Warriorz or RCB due to join them.

Gujarat still have a mathematical chance too, but realistically they are out due to their poor net run-rate.