Marizanne Kapp's all-round show helps South Africa trump England

Marizanne Kapp put on an all-round show helped South Africa defeat England by three wickets in a see-saw contest that saw the pendulum swing wildly before the Proteas' won in the last over at the Bay Oval in Tauranga on Monday (March 14).



Kapp took career-best figures of 5-45 before hitting 32 off 42 balls in the dying stages of the match as South Africa won their third match in a row. South Africa have now won all their three matches in the tournament and are placed second on the points table, while defending champions England are now languishing in seventh after losing all their three matches so far.



England’s opening woes continue



Coming off two wins in both their previous matches, South Africa went in with an unchanged team. England tried to address their opening woes by dropping Lauren Winfield-Hill and promoting Danielle Wyatt to open but the move did not work as she was dismissed by Kapp in the second over for just three.



Kapp continued to trouble the batters and then accounted for Heather Knight, who departed for nine after being late on a leave.



The in-form Natalie Sciver made a brisk start and hit a couple of boundaries by punishing anything that was pitched short but her cameo ended at 16 after she edged a pull onto her thigh, which then carried all the way to Lizelle Lee at slip.



Beaumont keeps England afloat



Just like the previous two games, Tammy Beaumont stayed firm at one end and played the role of sheet anchor to perfection as she and Amy Jones put on a 107-run partnership. The two played risk-free cricket for most of their stand and ran well between the wickets.



The South African bowlers stuck to disciplined lines and lengths and kept the scoring rate completely in control before Beaumont fell for 62 to the hugely impressive Masabata Klaas, who only gave away 18 runs in her first seven overs.



England’s problems then compounded further as the set Jones was run out for 53 after attempting a needlessly risky single to the agile Kapp, who found it impossible to keep away from the action.



Kapp makes the difference



England continued to consolidate and rebuild as Katherine Brunt and Sophia Dunkley put on a 34-run partnership before Kapp gave South Africa the breakthroughs again by sending Brunt back for 17 and Dunkley for 26 in the same over.



She then completed her first five-for in ODI cricket by getting Kate Cross for six. While Kapp was exemplary at the death and ended with 5-45, South Africa’s best figures at a World Cup, Sophie Ecclestone’s quickfire 15 at the end ensured that England had a competitive total on the board on a slow pitch, ending with 235 for 9.



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Shrubsole swings it



South Africa had lost early wickets in both their previous matches and they desperately needed a good start to pull off a trick chase on a pitch that was slowing down. Lizelle Lee and Laura Wolvaardt were cautious and watchful in the early exchanges before Anya Shrubsole castled the dangerous Lee with a trademark inswinger for nine.



Shrubsole continued to get swing right through the power play and Cross also suffocated the batters by cramping them for room. Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits saw out the testing spells but Brits ultimately perished while trying to up the run rate against Sciver, holing out to fine-leg after managing 23 off 46 balls.



Ecclestone bosses the middle overs



Brits’ dismissal brought South Africa’s two-most successful batters at this World Cup together, with Sune Luus joining Wolvaardt in the middle. Luus and Wolvaardt continued their good run of form by stitching together a 73-run partnership before Luus was the first to fall 0n 36 as Charlie Dean made a mark on her World Cup debut. It was Ecclestone, however, who bossed the middle overs, just like she did in the last match against the West Indies as she extracted steepling bounce and big turn from the surface.



All the pressure paid off as Wolvaardt found mid-wicket with a pull at 77 off Cross before Ecclestone saw the back of Mignon du Preez for eight after she failed to cut a sharply-rising delivery.



Kapp steps up



At 169 for 5, South Africa's chase looked in danger of fizzling out but up stepped Kapp, like she had all match. She first put on 30 with Chloe Tryon before putting on 27 with Trisha Chetty, who stayed unbeaten on 11 and saw the chase home with Shabnim Ismail. Kapp was eventually dismissed for 32 off 42 balls, but by then she put South Africa firmly in control of the chase, leaving South Africa with ten to score off ten balls.



Brief Scores: England 235 for 9 in 50 overs (Tammy Beaumont 62, Amy Jones 53; Marizanne Kapp 5/45) lost to South Africa 236/7 in 49.2 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 77, Marizanne Kapp 32; Anya Shrubsole 2/34) by three wickets POTM: Marizanne Kapp