Kapp delighted to be part of growth in SA women’s cricket

Seeing the growth women's cricket has undergone in the country is promising for the game’s future, says Proteas all-rounder Marizanne Kapp.

Kapp, who became only the fourth South African woman to reach 100 T20 internationals for the Proteas, hit a measured 75 runs to help South Africa post a competitive 162/7 in their 20 overs.

However, it was not to be for the visitors in Kapp’s milestone match as the Australian women chased down the 163-run winning target with five wickets left in the shed and four balls remaining to claim a 2-1 series win.

Kapp is taking the positives of the T20 series into their three-match one-day international series which starts on Saturday at 5.40am SA time

Despite the injury ups and downs of her illustrious career, Kapp said it had been a special journey so far for her and the team and she hoped it would continue for a few more years.

“There is nothing like playing for your country,” she said. “I feel I have played very little T20 cricket for South Africa in the past few years. Hopefully that will change and I have a few more games left in me.

“It has been one amazing journey from where women’s cricket started to where we are now. I’ve seen our team change, new, young players coming in.

“It has been amazing to be a part of this journey and to see how the team and our cricket has grown,” Kapp said during her post-match interview.

She said while they gave their all on the field, it was important to play at 100% if they were to overcome the strong Australian outfit more regularly.

“It would probably have made the difference if we had done the basics a bit better tonight [Tuesday]. You don’t go out there not wanting to back up or wanting to make mistakes. That is part of the game. But it is something we will look into, take the positives from it, and move on.”

She said they’d had the measure of their opponents for the most part, but seemed to ease the pressure on them at crucial moments in matches.

“I’ve always felt that in a lot of our World Cup games against Australia, especially in T20 cricket, we’ve had them by the neck but then let them loose.

“However, I feel the last three games, we got them in those positions and then held them under pressure for a little longer, which is why the games have been much closer this time around.”