Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], November 2 (ANI): South Africa women’s team will be playing their first-ever ICC Women’s World Cup final against India, when they take to the field at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, with their skipper and her all-rounders having played a crucial hand in the Proteas’ success.
A new world champion will be crowned when South Africa and India lock horns in the finals of the Women’s WC at Navi Mumbai, a moment which could mark a massive shift in the power centre of women’s cricket. Stepping into the title clash for the third time, Team India would be aiming to overcome a massive mental hurdle to capture the gold under the captaincy of Harmanpreet Kaur.
While opener Tazmin Brits was in a scintillating run of form heading into the tournament, her golden touch tapered off during the tournament, her opening partner on the other hand, has become a one-woman-show as far as batting is concerned, topping the run-charts with 470 runs in eight matches at an average of 67.14, with a strike rate of 97.31, including a century, a fine 169 against England in a one-sided semifinal and three fifties.
However, it is her quartet of all-rounder which have made this run to finals possible, delivering clutch contributions at various points of the tournament and helping Proteas overcome the pain of a 10-wicket loss against England in campaign opener, one win at a time.
-Marizanne Kapp
The 35-year-old continues to be an asset for Proteas, having scored 204 runs in seven innings at an average of 34.00 and a strike rate of over 103, with two fifties. She has also taken 12 wickets at an average of 15.33, including a five-wicket haul.
Her two stand-out performances include 68 in 43 balls (with six fours and three sixes) and two wickets against Pakistan in the league stage, getting the ‘Player of the Match’ award. She followed it up with a semifinal performance worthy of a veteran, smashing a quickfire 42 in 33 balls to take Wolvaardt-powered South Africa to 319/7 and starting chaos for England right from her first over, snapping scalps of Amy Jones and Heather Knight to start off her five-wicket haul, which also included the prized scalp of a dangerous Nat Sciver-Brunt. With 44 wickets, she also went past Jhulan Goswami to become the leading wicket-taker in tournament history.
-Nadine de Klerk
The 25-year-old has been an unreal ‘Impact Player for Proteas, making her presence felt in almost every match. In six innings across eight matches, she has scored 190 runs at an average of 63.33 and a strike rate of 136.69, with a fifty. Klerk has also taken eight scalps at an average of 22.87, with best figures of 2/24.
Klerk’s crown jewel moment in this tournament was an explosive 84* in 54 balls while chasing 252 against India, which consisted of eight fours and five sixes. Having denied Richa Ghosh (94) a shot at her maiden century, Klerk came back to haunt India when Proteas were in soup at 142/6, having lost their captain Wolvaardt for 70 with 110 runs still left.
Klerk unleashed a storm, putting up a 66-run stand with Chloe Tryon (49 in 66 balls, with five fours). With the match still anyone’s game at 211/7, the all-rounder brutalised a young Kranti Gaud, pacer Amanjot Kaur and Deepti Sharma, smashing three fours and four sixes within the next 17 balls to single-handedly finish the game.
Klerk has smashed 10 sixes this tournament (joint-highest with Richa Ghosh) and scored a boundary every 4.8 balls (joint-highest with Alyssa Healy), her strike rate of 136.69 is also the highest in the tournament.
-Chloe Tryon
The 31-year-old is another veteran from Wolvaardt’s scary quartet which has delivered some standouts. In six innings, she has 167 runs at an average of 33.40 and a strike rate of 88.82, with a fifty.
Also, her useful slow left-arm spin has earned her five wickets at an average of 35.40. Her all-round show of three wickets (including those of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues) and 49 runs powered Proteas to a momentum-boosting win over India in the group stage was her finest hour in the tournament.
Against Bangladesh, with her side in a tricky spot at 163/6 in 40.2 overs while chasing 233 runs, it was her patient 62 in 69 balls and partnership with Nadine of 35 runs for the seventh-wicket that brought the Proteas right back in the game, giving Klerk a platform to finish off things explosively and avoiding a second embarassing loss after wins over New Zealand and India. She got the ‘POTM’ award for her performance.
-Sune Luus
While Luus has been able to take just one wicket, she has been rather handy with the bat, scoring 158 runs in six innings at an average of 31.60, with two fifties and best score of 83*. In the comeback win over NZ, she gave Tazmin Brits to register her record-breaking fifth ton of the calendar year after the captain fell early at a score of 26, scoring a brilliant 83* in 114 balls and stitching a 159-run second-wicket stand with Brits.
Another useful performance came against Pakistan in the league stage, forming a century stand with Wolvaardt when Brits fell early at a score of five runs, laying down the platform for 312/9 with her aggressive 61 in 59 balls.
Also, during the semifinals, as England aimed to bounce back from a football-like scoreline of 1/3 while chasing 320 with a century stand between Alice Capsey and skipper Sciver-Brunt, it was her arm which broke the partnership and started England’s downfall, playing her small part in a 125-run win. (ANI)
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