Johannesburg - Marizanne Kapp has admitted the last week has been among the most emotional of her stellar career and at times she’s felt like crying on the field.
South Africa’s premier all-rounder explained that the retirement of her close friend Lizelle Lee and the continued absence of her wife, Dane van Niekerk from the Proteas team due to injury has been difficult to absorb. “It was definitely tough, not something that I expected,” Kapp said after South Africa were comprehensively beaten by England in the second One-Day International, played in Bristol on Friday night. “I’ve been struggling, I can’t lie, because Lizelle is one of my best friends.”
Lee shocked her teammates when she announced her retirement from the international game, just days before the start of the One-Day series with England. In addition to that, Van Niekerk hasn’t recovered from the fractured ankle she suffered before the 50-over World Cup and her presence is increasingly being felt by a young side that’s been on the road for over a month. “I wanted to cry on the field a few times in the last two games,” said Kapp. “Our team doctor has been brilliant and assisted me, throughout this period. Mentally it's been tough, everyone knows that. But you have to pull yourself together and get the job done.”
Many of the players, including Kapp, skipper Sune Luus and Laura Wolvaardt had also participated in T20 tournaments in Dubai and India, and have been away for a lengthy period of time.
“It’s not ideal to not have Lizelle and Dane in the Commonwealth squad, but again the seniors have to put up their hands and help the juniors. We’ve become used to playing and travelling for such a long time, that it’s nothing new, it shouldn’t be an excuse. Personally it gets to you, being alone and away from home. We chose this sport, we knew it would be tough, we have to be strong, and support each other,” said Kapp.
Although she struggled with the ball on Friday, Kapp once again batted magnificently, scoring 73 off 59 balls, and despite chasing a hefty target of 338, she felt South Africa had a chance. “When people see a score of 330, they get a fright, and I was afraid of that when we walked off the field, that some of the youngsters might think, ‘we’ll never chase down those runs.’”
“If we had a batter there to support me at the end, I was positive we could have chased that target at the end,” said Kapp.
The final One-Day International will be played in Leicester on Monday. Thereafter the two sides face each other in three T20 Internationals. The clash between the two sides is part of a multi-format series that was first used in the 2013 Women’s Ashes. England currently lead the series 6-2, having earned four points for winning the two ODIs, while each team picked up two points for the drawn Test match.
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