Marizanne Kapp feels at home at No 5 after leading Proteas Women to record World Cup victory

Proteas Women's all-rounder Marizanne Kapp believes the No 5 spot in the batting order fits her game well, as she led South Africa to a record fifth consecutive victory in the ongoing ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Kapp finished unbeaten on 68 off 43 deliveries on Tuesday, as the right-hander took the Pakistan Women’s bowling attack apart and secured a 150-run (DLS) victory for South Africa at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

Having come in to bat at No 5, Kapp had a solid foundation set by the top-order batters Laura Wolvaardt (90) and Sune Luus (61), as the pair put together 118 runs for the second wicket.

Following her Player-of-the-Match award, Kapp revealed that her preferred position is at No 5 in the batting order. The 35-year-old also lauded top-order batters Wolvaardt and Luus for taking pressure off them as the middle-order batters.

“It was a beautiful wicket to bat on. I’m a bit annoyed that we didn’t get to play the full 50 overs. We had lots of fun out there tonight.

“I feel like Wolvaardt and Sune set a beautiful platform for us. I felt like Sune was really positive. She made our job easy, to just come in and play our natural game. It was just to give myself a few balls to get in.

“I actually enjoy batting at No 5. I felt like I didn’t do too well at No 4, even though I’ve batted there before. So, I told the coach, ‘You’re not moving me again.’ I’ve just got a bit of a game plan there. I like batting with the lower order, and it worked out for us tonight.”

With the ball, Kapp was equally impressive, getting the new ball to talk and taking early wickets for the Proteas. The right-arm seamer took three wickets in her five-over new-ball spell, as she returned figures of 3/20, taking the steam out of the Pakistan batting unit.

Alongside Kapp with the ball, right-arm off-spinner Nondumiso Shangase and Ayabonga Khaka claimed 2/19 and 1/14 respectively, to help South Africa secure five back-to-back victories for the first time in ICC World Cups.

The Proteas restricted Pakistan to 83/7 in 20 overs in the rain-affected fixture. Kapp was not entirely satisfied with her bowling performance on Tuesday but praised the entire bowling attack for stepping up.

“Honestly, I didn’t bowl too well. I wasn’t happy with my bowling. I felt like I bowled better in the previous games, but luckily, I got the rewards,” she said.

“I think Lefty (Mlaba) has been superb for us, especially. We saw in the previous games how world-class she bowled. So, I feel like everyone’s been bowling pretty well. Hopefully, it all comes together and we get better every game.”

South Africa’s seventh and final round-robin fixture will be against Australia on Saturday in Indore.