Manchester [UK], June 21 (ANI): An incredible all-round performance by Marizanne Kapp powered South Africa to a thrilling six-wicket win over India in the Women’s T20 World Cup in Manchester on Sunday, as per the ICC website.
Kapp claimed 2/27 to restrict India to 158/7 and then turned the match around with the bat, scoring an unbeaten 81, which included four towering sixes, to take her team to 161/4 in 19.1 overs.
It was South Africa’s highest successful chase in a Women’s T20 World Cup, and the third highest overall. The win over one of the tournament’s heavyweights may just be the spark the Proteas needed to get their World Cup campaign back on track after two shaky performances.
For India, this was the first defeat of the campaign.
Electing to bat first, India made a flying start as Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma powered them to 23 in the first two overs.
Just when the Indian openers were threatening to run away with it, Marizanne Kapp struck with the wicket of Mandhana. Attempting a scoop, the southpaw left the stumps exposed, and Kapp was on the money.
Shabnim Ismail then dealt a big blow, dismissing the in-form Verma, who had already struck four fours and a six (the only one of the innings as it happened) for a quickfire 31. Having posted 59/2 in power play, India did not capitalise on the quick start.
All the Indian batters got starts, but they failed to convert. In her landmark 200th T20I, Harmanpreet Kaur scored 24, while a cameo of 29 by Deepti Sharma made sure India got past 150.
South African bowlers, led by their fiery pace duo of Kapp and Ismail (2/28), shackled the power-packed Indian batting line-up in the second half. They conceded 76 runs and picked four wickets in the last 10 overs.
India came out of the mid-innings break firing. Not only did they starve South Africa of runs early on, but a double-wicket maiden by Sree Charani (3/24) in the final over of powerplay also had them reeling at 25/2.
But with her team on the ropes, Kapp came up with one of the knocks of the tournament.
She stitched a 97-run partnership with Tazmin Brits (40) to guide South Africa back on track. The South African batters navigated the tricky early phase by picking the gaps and keeping the scoring rate ticking. Once they had their eye in, they flipped the switch in the 15th over, reaping 16 runs from it.
Though Kapp lost Brits and Nadine De Klerk along the way, she kept the pressure on India by going for her shots.
With South Africa needing 18 runs to win in the last two overs, she launched into two sixes against Deepti Sharma, the joint-highest wicket-taker in women’s international cricket, and knocked off 16 runs in the over.
Kapp watched from the non-striker’s end as Chloe Tyron wrapped up victory with a thick edge that ran down for four. Even as the South African dug out erupted in celebration, an emotional Kapp sank to a knee, the adrenaline leaving her body after the match-winning heroics.
South Africa is well and truly back in the race to the semi-finals as they climbed to No. 3 in Group A, while India maintained second place on the leaderboard. (ANI)
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