Marizanne Kapp rejects the label of “Test player.” She is color blind. Her dislike of multitasking is evident. She doesn’t see why women shouldn’t have the highest positions in whites. It doesn’t take much to realize why you should choose South Africa’s top all-arounder if you need a misconception to be dispelled.
On the first day of the one-off Test against England, Kapp spent over four and a half hours at the wicket at Taunton, facing 213 balls and hitting 150 – the best performance by a woman for South Africa and the best by a women’s No. 6.
Her hitting helped first innings that had faltered to 45/4 when she took guard, slid to 89/5, and then flourished for long enough to reach 284 thanks to her.
Kapp, meanwhile, didn’t think she merited a spot in the XI only last week. In a news conference held following Monday’s game, she stated, “I’ve been training hard on my white-ball game.” “I shouldn’t be playing Test cricket, I thought when I played that warm-up game the other day because I was playing a T20. It helps a lot if you ignore the color of the ball as it approaches you.
You risk being dismissed if you place too much emphasis on the ball and the fact that it’s a Test match. That was the error I made in the exhibition game. I didn’t use the balls I had to drive.
In the first innings against England A at Arundel Castle, Kapp faced eight balls for a duck before scoring 34 off 28 in the second innings. Although it was only her third game with second innings, it was the 485th match of an almost 18-year career. The previous fixtures had all been on a limited-overs basis.
Kapp’s preparation for her second Test was hindered by the lack of red-ball cricket, but that hasn’t stopped her from developing into a reliable performer with both the bat and the ball. hesitantly, it appears: “It may be really challenging to concentrate on both bowling and batting at once; it seems that one constantly takes precedence. But as a result of my training with some unique trainers, my confidence is escalating.”
When Kapp scored 203 runs and took 12 wickets in eight games at the March World Cup in New Zealand, South Africa advanced to the semi-finals. She is second only to Shabnim Ismael among South Africans on the all-time list of ODI wicket takers and is second only to Ismail on the T20I list.
Kapp’s preparation for her second Test was hindered by the lack of red-ball cricket, but that hasn’t stopped her from developing into a reliable performer with both the bat and the ball.
Hesitantly, it appears, “It may be really challenging to concentrate on both bowling and batting at once; it seems that one constantly takes precedence. But as a result of my training with some unique trainers, my confidence is escalating.”
When Kapp scored 203 runs and took 12 wickets in eight games at the March World Cup in New Zealand, South Africa advanced to the semi-finals. She is second only to Shabnim Ismael among South Africans on the all-time list of ODI wicket takers and is second only to Ismail on the T20I list.
