Sports
Cool Kapp keeps her nerve to take South Africa over the line
Fending off the opposition with the tail, Marizanne Kapp kept her nerve in a crucial cameo of 34 to clinch a narrow two-wicket win for South Africa in a low-scoring final-over World Cup thriller against New Zealand in Hamilton on Thursday. Having made a strong comeback with the ball at the death to restrict the hosts to 228 despite a well-paced 93 from skipper Sophie Devine, South Africa themselves faced a collapse after fifties from Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus. But Kapp’s experience came to the fore, amidst regular wickets, to propel South Africa to the second spot in the points table with this fourth successive win.
Despite losing the dangerous Lizelle Lee early to a run out in a cautious start, Wolvaardt dropped anchor and forged two defining partnerships that kept the chase on track for as long as she stayed at the crease. With Tasmin Brits, she added 48 runs for the second wicket stand, after South Africa posted 33/1 from their powerplay. It was during her 88-run third-wicket partnership with Luus that South Africa seemed to be taking control and cruising in their modest chase. The pair took the team past the 100-run mark in the 25th over – same as New Zealand – before the stylish opener raised a third successive fifty in the World Cup, off 72 balls, with a drive.
The duo picked up pace soon after, taking the side to 159/2 at drinks but Amelia Kerr’s twin strikes prompted a mini collapse of 3 for 9 to turn the chase on its head. The spinner first broke through the threatening partnership by trapping Wolvaardt plumb in front of the stumps after a 94-ball 67. In the following over, she ended Mignon du Preez’s stay in her 150th ODI prematurely by having her caught behind on just 1. Luus got to her fifty right after, but also ended up sending a faint nick the keeper’s way as South Africa slipped to a precarious 170/5, needing a run-a-ball 59 thereafter.
With the equation down to 31 off 30, another mini collapse ensued when Mackay struck twice in her successive overs to take out Chloe Tryon (14) and Trisha Chetty (3). But Kapp hit back to back boundaries off Tahuhu in the interim to keep up with the asking rate. Devine brought herself back into the attack for the penultimate over when South Africa needed 14 off 12, and knocked over Ismail’s stumps with a slower one but regaining strike, Kapp found two timely boundaries to take her side over the line from a position they ideally shouldn’t have found themselves in to begin with.
Earlier in the day, Devine put on two handy partnerships – worth 81 with Amelia for the second wicket and another of 80 runs with Maddy Green for the fourth – but the hosts fluffed up the death-overs acceleration to fold for a sub-par 228 despite being in a position of strength at 198/4 when the skipper fell seven short of her second World Cup century. Credit due to the pacers, led by Ismail and Khaka, who tightened their lines and lengths, and used the slower ones to good effect to prompt a fatal collapse of 6 for 30.
Ismail forced New Zealand to rethink when she bowled Suzie Bates through the game with a ripper in just the third over after the hosts elected to bat first. Runs dried up as Devine and Amelia sought to stabalize the innings, taking New Zealand to just 30/1 after powerplay. However, erratic bowling from the visitors ensued and Devine started to free her arms more regularly. South Africa were either too short or gave too much room as Devine took full toll to push the run-rate up. Having taken 13 deliveries to open her account, Kerr also caught up and even briefly went on to out-score her captain into the 40s.
Against the run of play, though, Luus trapped Amelia lbw on 42 and three balls later Khaka had Amy Satterthwaite edging behind to leave Devine to rebuild once again. From 88/3 after 20, it took the hosts another five overs to reach triple figures while Devine raised her personal fifty, off 61 deliveries, with the second of the back to back boundaries in the same over.
The pair ticked along as New Zealand upped their scoring once again but Green’s untimely run out gave South Africa an opening going into the death overs. Devine, who marched into the 90s with a mighty slog over long-on ropes off Marizanne Kapp, was yorked by Khaka in the very next over, reducing them to 198 for 5. From there on, the South African pace battery did not let the lower-order breathe. Ismail got through the defences of Katey Martin and La Tahuhu, Kapp bounced back to claim two in two in the 46th over and Ismail polished it in the 48th with her third.
Brief scores:
New Zealand
228 all out in 47.5 overs (Sophie Devine 93, Amelia Kerr 42; Shabnim Ismail 3-27, Ayabonga Khaka 3-31) lost to South Africa 229/8 in 49.3 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 67, Sune Luus 51, Marizanne Kapp 34*; Amelia Kerr 3-50, Frances Mackay 2-49) by 2 wickets
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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