Marizanne Kapp – The Irreplaceable Enigma

“A team that has somebody like Marizanne Kapp is a confident team. Any win for Marizanne and any cricket game means so much to her. She’ll always give 335% – whether the team is doing well or not.”- Dane van Niekerk

What better occasion than Marizanne Kapp’s birthday to celebrate the enigma that she is? Marizanne Kapp is one of a kind and is not just a premier all-rounder but is sought after by different franchises all over the world. She is an asset to any team she plays for and is a gift that keeps giving, be it the Proteas women’s team or the Oval Invincibles in the Hundred or for the Perth Scorchers in the WBBL to name a few. Her statistics certainly do paint a picture but then true connoisseurs of the game will focus on her feisty run-up, fierce deliveries and her unmatched pace besides the grit, determination and commitment she brings to the team; she packs a punch every single time she steps on the cricket field and delivers when the team most needs her to perform.

But for the uninitiated, here are some basic things to know about the legend.

• How old is Marizanne Kapp?

Born on 4th January 1990, she is 34. A live wire on the field and quite literally the heartbeat of the South African team, she is a crucial cog in the South African team set-up.

• Where was Marizanne Kapp born?

She was born in Gqeberha, South Africa.

• Who is Marizanne Kapp playing for in the WBBL?

Having played for the Sydney Sixers in earlier editions, she currently plys her trade for Perth Scorchers since the 2021/22 season.

• Does Marizanne Kapp play in The Hundred?

She has been one of the major players for the two-time champions Oval Invincibles contributing massively to the team’s fortunes in the league matches and the finals.

With the premise of who she is set in stone, let us take a look at her career so far and take a trip down memory lane of some very important milestones and accomplishments.

It is an understatement but she is a multi-talented player who has represented her province in a plethora of sports like netball, athletics, biathlon, and lifesaving and also holds the distinction of being the first female cricketer, along with Dane van Niekerk, to be accepted into the Eastern Province Cricket Academy, where she trained alongside male players. She has represented South Africa in all three forms of the game, making her international debut against Australia in the sixth match of the 2009 ICC Women’s ODI World Cup. In the same year, she made her T20I debut against Australia in a World T20 match.

Milestone by Marizanne Kapp

She has the highest-ever score by a South African at the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, that remarkable 102* against Pakistan in Cuttack in 2013. During her innings, she also shared a 128-run partnership with Dane van Niekerk, the highest-ever partnership for South Africa Women at a World Cup. In the same game, she took 3 for 18 with her medium pace to guarantee her team a place in the Super Sixes stage. Since 2014, Kapp has been at the forefront of South Africa’s turnaround and at the Women’s T20 World Cup that year, she excelled with 23 and three wickets in South Africa’s maiden victory over New Zealand, helping them qualify for the semi-finals for the first time in the tournament’s history. In addition, against Bangladesh in September 2013, she became only the third woman to take a T20I hat-trick. Pursuing her academic pursuits, she has also completed a degree in sports management as well. Additionally, it is worth noting that she became one of the recipients of Cricket South Africa’s contract structure, which went into effect in October 2013. She was one of just four South Africans to play in the first Women’s Big Bash League in 2015. She finished the tournament with 17 wickets for the runner-up Sydney Sixers, with the greatest economy rate in the championship of 4.28 runs per over.

She was also chosen as a member of the ICC Women’s ODI Team of the Year in December 2017. She was one of fourteen players handed a national contract by Cricket South Africa ahead of the 2018-19 season in March 2018. During the series against the West Indies in September 2018, she took her 100th WODI wicket. She was picked to South Africa’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in the West Indies in October 2018 and was South Africa’s best run-scorer in the tournament, scoring 98 runs in four matches. She was selected for the Sydney Sixers squad for the 2018-19 Women’s Big Bash League season in November 2018. In the first WODI against Pakistan in May 2019, Kapp became South Africa’s third player to play in 100 WODIs. She was picked to the M van der Merwe XI squad for the inaugural Women’s T20 Super League in South Africa in September 2019.

She was also picked for South Africa’s squad for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia in January 2020. Kapp was appointed to South Africa’s 24-woman team on July 23, 2020, to begin training in Pretoria ahead of their journey to England and was drafted by the Oval Invincibles in 2021 for the inaugural season of The Hundred. She was picked to South Africa’s team for the Women’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand in February 2022 and recorded her maiden five-wicket haul in WODI cricket on 14 March 2022, during South Africa’s World Cup match against England and played extremely well in the tournament.

She was purchased by the Oval Invincibles in April 2022 for the 2022 season of The Hundred in England. They went on to win the tournament, and she was named Player of the Match for her match-winning innings in the final. She represented the Falcons in two matches at the 2022 FairBreak Invitational T20 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, in May 2022. She scored 67* with six fours and two sixes in the Invitational final against the Tornadoes team and was named player of the match, but her exceptional effort was not enough to prevent the Tornadoes from winning the tournament. Kapp achieved her first Test century, with 150 runs, in a one-off Test against England in June 2022 that was a phenomenal knock. Her total was also South Africa’s highest individual score in a women’s Test match.

Although some personal reasons cut short her 2022, rest assured she will make a strong comeback in 2023 and guide South Africa to World Cup glory, something that has eluded her team and at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at home, there is an opportunity to achieve the impossible and the world will be watching with bated breath.