One of the best innings in Women’s T20 World Cup history was played by veteran all-rounder Marizanne Kapp on Sunday at Old Trafford, when she slammed an undefeated 81 off 45 balls to give South Africa a six-wicket victory over India in a Group A thriller.

South Africa was chasing 159 in front of 11,712 spectators and struggled in the powerplay, scoring only 25 runs before Marizanne’s brilliance turned the game around. Marizanne hit seven fours and four sixes through square of the wicket and downtown with her powerful blows while sharing a 97-run partnership with Tazmin Brits (40), which included adding 66 runs from overs 10–15, even as N Sree Charani took three scalps, including off a double-wicket maiden over.

Marizanne was relieved after Chloe Tryon’s thick edge brought the winning runs, dropping to her knees in relief as South Africa gave India their first loss of the competition. Radha Yadav had twice saved her. Previously, Harmanpreet Kaur made history by being the first cricket player to appear in her 200th T20I match.

However, Marizanne and Shabnim each took two wickets as a disciplined South African bowling assault restricted India to 158/7. Highlighting the tenacity of the South African attack, India’s best partnership was the 33-run partnership between Harmanpreet and Deepti. Marizanne once more showed why she is still one of the top all-rounders in women’s cricket by the conclusion of the game.

Shafali Verma started India’s innings by clipping Marizanne off her pads for four and then driving Shabnim Ismail through cover. Driving Shabnim on the up and pulling her for back-to-back boundaries, Smriti Mandhana joined in. Smriti, after hitting Marizanne wide of mid-on, attempted an audacious scoop, but she misjudged the length, saw her stumps shattered, and watched as the all-rounder celebrated with enthusiasm.

Runs followed with the advent of Chloe Tryon In a 17-run over, Shafali walked down to smash over cover, swept hard, and hit a 74-meter six. Shafali was out for 31 when Shabnim’s aggressive bumper caught her glove with a feather edge off the 122. 5 kmph pitch.

Ayabonga Khaka bowled Yastika Bhatia for 15, after she had hit some excellent boundaries. Jemimah Rodrigues came next, shutting her bat face too late and being caught-and-bowled for 12 by Nadine de Klerk’s diving catch. Before Shabnim bowled Harmanpreet for 24 runs, Harmanpreet and Deepti steadied India’s innings with a 33-run partnership.

Even though Richa Ghosh and Deepti each hit three boundaries in seven balls, India’s pace never improved. Deepti, who was confident with the sweep, was caught off guard by Nonkululeko Mlaba’s slower floater and miscue to short fine leg for 29 runs.

Marizanne took out Richa, who was having trouble finding her rhythm, with a slower ball after she top-edged a sweep to short fine. India’s innings concluded two runs shy of 160 after newcomers Prema Rawat and Arundhati Reddy contributed a couple of runs.

South Africa’s chase began cautiously against Shafali’s off-spin. Laura Wolvaardt drove past point off Nandni Sharma for four, then pulled Arundhati Reddy for six and thumped Shafali for another boundary, despite India keeping things tight.

But Charani’s left-arm spin allowed India to recover, as she tempted Laura into a high drive and took a catch on the rebound. Annerie Dercksen was removed by Charani following a dot ball, as the spinner’s double-wicket maiden over left South Africa in disarray at 25/2. Dercksen was bowled for a duck after swiping across the line.

Marizanne and Tazmin attempted to resume their partnership, and the latter did so by reverse-sweeping Deepti for four. Marizanne initially had trouble, mistiming her pushes and sweeps, but she eventually got into a groove. Marizanne took on Prema’s leg-spin, first by hitting a shot over the covers for four, and then by top-edging a sweep that Nandni palmed over for six.

The collaboration became more confident as Marizanne scooped Nandni over fine leg for four and Brits lofted Deepti over long-on. Brits also survived an lbw review thanks to an under-edge.

After Radha, a substitute fielder, put Marizanne down at long-on off Charani’s bowling, Marizanne displayed her full flow, lofting and sweeping her for boundaries before sweeping Arundhati on consecutive deliveries to reach her fifty in 34 balls and crunching a full toss from Deepti through cover for four.

Despite Marizanne’s straight drive to deep square leg off Shafali, she was saved once more when Radha dropped a sitter at long-on. South Africa moved closer to completing the chase despite the fact that Chloe had hit four runs through cover and Nadine had been castled by Charani following a hard drive over extra cover for four.

Prior to smashing another six over mid-wicket, Marizanne impressed everyone by slog-sweeping Deepti for six. Chloe completed the chase in elegance by pushing Nandni through the slip cordon for an outstanding win for South Africa.

Brief Scores:
India 158/7 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 31, Deepti Sharma 29; Marizanne Kapp 2-27, Shabnim Ismail 2-28)
South Africa 161/4 in 19.1 overs (Marizanne Kapp 81 not out, Tazmin Brits 40; Sree Charani 3-24, Shafali Verma 1-22)