Marizanne Kapp fired from the start of her innings against Scotland yesterday. Photo: BackpagePix
The Proteas Women recorded a mammoth 80-run victory over Scotland at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai yesterday.
Ongama Gcwabe highlights three takeaways from South Africa’s performance in their third fixture...
Repositioning Kapp
Throughout the T20 World Cup campaign, and during the tour to Pakistan before the start of the showpiece event, batter Anneke Bosch has been promoted up the batting order at No 3, ahead of the experienced Marizanne Kapp.
While the decision may have worked in Pakistan, it certainly has flopped in the ongoing World Cup.
All it has done is leave Kapp with a lot more pressure as she comes in to bat with fewer overs left and without much contribution from Bosch, who has batted slower than what is required in the shortest format.
Yesterday, Bosch faced 13 balls for her 11, while Kapp fired right from the start of her innings and finished with a 24-ball 43 to get South Africa to a decent total (166/5).
Though it has been communicated that the decision behind Kapp batting lower down the order was to allow her a little more time to rest – as she is also entrusted with taking the new ball – her absence at No 3 is being felt.
Marizanne Kapp fired on all cylinders with the bat against Scotland in Dubai 🔥
— ICC (@ICC) October 9, 2024
She wins the @aramco POTM 🏅 #T20WorldCup | #WhateverItTakes pic.twitter.com/9OCZ9eBXH1
Premeditated plans hurting SA
There has been many instances where the plans that have been executed in the field during the ongoing showpiece event have been nothing short of poor.
One instance was how batter Suné Luus walked in to bat at No 5 yesterday, despite there being just over five overs remaining in the innings.
This move was premeditated, and though it did not hurt the team overall as they won in the end, it could have resulted in a whole different story.
That situation called for all-rounder Annerie Dercksen to come in to bat as she has the power game and the variety of shots needed to take full advantage of that situation.
These are the plans that will make or break South Africa’s chances of qualifying for the semi-finals of the World Cup when they face Bangladesh on Saturday.
Difficulty with spin
When England spinner Sophie Ecclestone exposed South Africa’s problems with playing spin earlier in the tournament, the consensus was that the left-arm orthodox was a seasoned campaigner and certainly one of the best spinners in the world – and that she mostly troubles the best batters in the women’s game.
However, the same weakness was put in the spotlight yesterday as Scotland spinners Olivia Bell (1/34), Katherine Fraser (1/15) and Darcey Carter (1/17) caused the South African batters problems.
What was more concerning was how the Scotland trio were not even extracting that much turn off the surface, but were still able to slow down the Proteas batters from a run-rate of 10 in the first powerplay to only five per over from overs six to 10.