SA’s scowling destroyer Kapp focusing on a final

THE running joke about Marizanne Kapp is that on the field, she never smiles. So when the Sydney Sixers, the team she represented in the Women’s Big Bash in Australia last season, tweeted a picture congratulating her on her selection for the Proteas Women’s World Cup squad, it was fairly predictable she’d be “scowling”.

Australian wicketkeeper, Alyssa Healy, who is a teammate of Kapp’s at the Sixers, tweeted a sarcastic response about not finding a picture of Kapp smiling – “shock horror,” said Healy.

Kapp doesn’t have “white line fever” in quite the same way that, say, Andre Nel had during his career, but she’s a deadly serious player and a key component of South Africa’s challenge in the upcoming World Cup.

Kapp’s the No 1-ranked bowler in women’s cricket and spearheads a South African attack that includes Shabnim Ismail, one of the fastest bowlers in the world, the swing of Aya Khaka and spin from Dané van Niekerk and Sune Luus.

It’s an attack Proteas skipper Van Niekerk can’t wait to unleash at the tournament. “We’ve got a great armoury,” said Van Niekerk, “we’ve got an amazing bowling attack; lefthanders, pace, spin... off-spin, legspin, we’ve got the most variety in the world in our bowling attack.”

That group of bowlers is certainly capable of winning matches and as its leader Kapp is excited about the potential. “This squad has been (building) for quite a while; this is the first time we’ve got such a strong squad. We’ve got a few players in the top 20 for batting and bowling. This is the first time we have a good team that can really win this trophy,” Kapp added.

The 27-year-old has taken 75 wickets in her 78 ODIs, at an average of 25.86, and has an economy rate of 3.55. She’d be the fastest bowler in the team if not for Ismail, who can push the ball through at over 130km/h.

Against the stronger women’s teams Kapp has struggled – she averages 76.66 with the ball against Australia and 49.83 against England – and if South Africa is to challenge for the title that will have to change.

However, like her teammates, Kapp has had a mental shift – they have gone from merely being excited about sharing the field with bigname players from those countries to believing that the Proteas can actually beat them.

“In the 2014 T20 World Cup we set a goal of reaching the semi-finals, and we did that and then we didn’t know what to do further. This time, we’ve said it doesn’t stop at the semis, it stops at the final. I think mentally we are better prepared, we know what we want to do, and we just want to go out and do it.”

Kapp’s role doesn’t end with the ball, she’s a key middle-order batter too – in fact her prowess is underscored by the fact she’s ranked No 3 on the all-rounders list – but whereas her batting output was essential a few years ago, now the run-scoring load has been spread around, with Chloe Tryon, Van Niekerk and former skipper Mignon du Preez more to the fore, underlining the depth in the South African team.

As coach Hilton Moreeng and captain Van Niekerk have been at pains to mention, consistency will be crucial for the South Africans at the World Cup. “We’ve played well in patches,” said Kapp. “We beat New Zealand and nearly beat Australia, without Shabnim Ismail and Trish Chetty. It will be exciting to see what happens in England. We’ve got a full-strength squad... on the day it’s anyone’s game.”