Marizanne Kapp was 36 not out of 35 balls as South Africa beat New Zealand by two wickets with three balls remaining to remain unbeaten after four matches; all ICC Cricket Women’s World Cup matches are live on Sky Sports
Marizanne Kapp was 36 years old not out of 35 balls
Marizanne Kapp was South Africa’s hero again as they overcame a thriller against New Zealand, coming home with two wickets and three balls to spare.
Sophie Devine’s 93 was ultimately in vain as New Zealand put up a sub-par 228 in Hamilton, Ayabonga Khaka and Shabnim Ismail each took three as the White Ferns lost their last six wickets by 30 runs.
Laura Wolvaardt responded with a big shot of her own, making 67, before South Africa suffered their own collapse, falling to 217 for eight. However, they kept their nerves with Kapp’s undefeated 34 sealing another narrow victory.
“Are [tight] The games have to stop now, I’m tired,” Kapp said with a smile, after South Africa’s victory. “As a team we were not at our best, but I think the perfect game is just around the corner.”
New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat, but starter Suzie Bates could only manage her third single-digit score of the tournament as Ismail’s raw pace beat her clean by four.
Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr steadily rebuilt, raising their partnership to fifty on 81 balls before Kerr fell for 42 when she was caught underweight in the bowling of South Africa captain Sune Luus.
Amy Satterthwaite went for one when Trisha Chetty caught her from behind in the next over as New Zealand fell to 88 for three.
In her 50th ODI appearance, Maddy Green built a helpful partnership with Devine, who lifted his half-century on 62 balls with straight fours against Luus as he once again played the role of anchor for the White Ferns.
Green went 30-for-58 when a hard shot from Wolvaardt to Chetty took her out behind the stumps, ending an 80-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Brooke Halliday justified her promotion to the starting XI by rotating the strike nicely, but the White Ferns’ hopes hung with captain Devine.
Once she was ruled out, thrown by Khaka for 93 of 101 balls, the meltdown began as Katey Martin felt the force of Ismail’s frustration as she was thrown for nine before the fastballer let out a roar.
Player of the Match Kapp then catapulted into the game by shooting Halliday for 24, and with it went, or so it seemed, any kind of resistance.
Hannah Rowe would drop the next ball as the hosts fell apart at 220 for eight, the usually dangerous Lea Tahuhu looking for a duck as Ismail landed another before her innings came to an end 13 balls earlier as Jess Kerr became the third victim of Khaka, taking her to 10 for the tournament.
New Zealand had collapsed from 168 for four in the 36th to 228 overall, the last four wickets dropped by the addition of just eight runs.
Lizelle Lee made a quick start on the chase, she and Wolvaardt were watching the ball beautifully until the former ran out when Wolvaardt went for a third that her partner was never prepared for.
Tazmin Brits looked shaky as she joined Wolvaardt in the middle, knowing her position in the team was in jeopardy after a series of false starts.
Unable to kick again, she made just 18 runs from 38 balls before Martin brought her down from Amelia Kerr’s impressive leg-spin bowling to see South Africa finish 18th on 74 for two.
Wolvaardt then dropped on 34 before moving on to her 72-ball half-century as she and Luus built a solid partnership, helping to halt the rate of upward running when New Zealand ran out of ideas on the ball.
But, as always, Kerr was well above firing Wolvaardt 67-for-94 to end an 87-run partnership at a crucial moment. Kerr would get another when Mignon du Preez’s 150th appearance ended in disappointment as Martin deftly caught her from behind.
Luus’ 50 came off 67 balls but was surrounded by a series of point balls for her and Kapp that saw South Africa need a run a ball again.
The captain went down as Martin took her second successive catch, Rowe taking a deserved wicket before Chloe Tryon’s mistimed strike found Kerr on the pitch and she split for 14 to leave South Africa reeling at 198 for six.
Like Tryon, Chetty sent in a high catch and this time Frances Mackay held her own bowling game to lead South Africa into another thriller.
Ismail was also sucked into a big swing but missed and Devine lobbed it in, while Khaka’s own move landed safely for Kapp to go on strike, where he remained crucially for the final over.
