Marizanne Kapp believes South Africa can go the distance

First, to recap. This is a team that missed out on the World Cup final last year by the skin of their teeth, throwing away a semifinal against England that they had all-but locked down until the bitter end.

A team that thumped the same opponent in the opening ODI of a series this year but didn’t win another game on the tour. A team that along the way conceded world record for runs conceded in a T20 innings – twice, in fact. Conceding all these runs while sporting a seam bowling attack that self-identifies as the world’s best.

“We always start on a high,” explains 28-year-old Marizanne Kapp, the side’s trump card. “It is like we get bored or something,” she adds with a smile that hints that the fact that she’s seen it all over a decade in the international game, winning 164 caps for her country along the way.

This time around, expectations for the Proteas are tailored to the fact that so many of their squad have impressed and dominated on the T20 semi-pro circuit in Australia and England, which has matured into a showcase of the game’s best female players over the last three years.

While Kapp was compiling her clutch innings of 38 in South Africa’s opener against Sri Lanka, former England champion Charlotte Edwards said that the ferocious competitor is the most sought after player in both of these leagues. For the all-rounder’s part, she acknowledges time in the Women’s Big Bash League with the Sydney Sixers and the Kia Super League with Surrey Stars as integral to her progress in the game’s shortest form.

Held in similar esteem as match winners at their respective clubs are captain Dane van Niekerk, former skipper Mignon de Preez, explosive opener Lizelle Lee and the fastest bowler in the women’s game, Shabnim Ismail. Toss into the mix opening batter Laura Woolvardt, who came of age in the World Cup, the giant bombs that Chloe Tryon is capable of hitting and the seaming skill of Masabata Klaas and their team sheet gives the impression of a side as likely as any to hold the trophy aloft in Antigua.

“T20 isn’t something we grew up with playing,” Kapp says of the influence of the short-form competitions. “They ensure that you play as much as possible and playing with other internationals you see how they go about their business. It has definitely helped us.”

Lucky to avoid losing their first game to rain to suffer the same fate as England, they gave their supporters a predictable fright when Woolvardt and Lee fell in consecutive balls at the start of their pursuit of 99 against Sri Lanka on Monday. Enter Kapp, who walked out at No.3, joined by van Niekerk who just last month, as it happens, became her wife.

More important than that to the set-up of the team was Kapp’s elevation to No.3. She has an international ton to her name five years ago at the World Cup, where she constructed a 128-run stand with van Niekerk against Pakistan, but has typically done as fast bowlers do and walked out at No.6. “I’ve always seen myself as a batter,” she said of the elevation. “Hopefully now at this stage of the career I can contribute more.”

By the time the power play overs were concluded, the match was all-but iced with the pair of experienced heads carefully ticking the board over as required. But when asked if the bond between the pair helps when they are batting together, Kapp jokes by noting that they are more likely to run each other out – having done so in the past.

However, her focus quickly returns to the job at hand: drawing on the frustration of recent history to prove a point over the next week and give themselves every chance to earn one of the spots in the semifinal.

To do so, they will need to get past the hosts and defending champions, the Windies, or their nemesis, England.

“The series we had in England doesn’t show our true potential,” Kapp insists. “If our batters can fire I believe that we can make it to the end this time. It depends on which South African team rocks up on the day. If you get us on the right day we can be really dangerous.” Too right they can. If they can make it to Antigua, look out. But for now, just enjoy the ride.