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IOL News
3 hours ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Proteas women welcome Kapp ahead of her 150th ODI
WHILE Temba Bavuma is set to lead the Proteas Test squad in the World Test Championship at Lord's today, Proteas Women captain Laura Wolvaardt is bracing to lead her side in the first of three One Day Internationals (ODIs) in the Caribbean today. After having a rather poor tour of Sri Lanka last month, where the side failed to reach the final of the Tri-Series against the hosts and India Women, Wolvaardt welcomes senior player Marizanne Kapp, who missed the Sri Lanka tour. Kapp is set to play her 150th ODI at the Cave Hill today, joining the likes of Mignon du Preez to cross the 150 ODI games mark. Wolvaardt told the media on Tuesday that they are excited to welcome a player of the calibre of Kapp back into the squad. "It is massive (to have Kapp back into the side). I think Kapi is obviously the best bowler in the world, and she bats pretty well as well. She's like two players in one, so it's awesome to have her back in the lineup," said Wolvaardt. "I think just her experience as well, she's been in the Caribbean a bunch of times, so just having that knowledge and being able to chat to her, I think, will be massive for the series. Just the presence she has within the group and within the seamers group as well. "I know she chats a lot to some of the young seamers like Dirkie (Annerie Dercksen) and helps them develop their skills. She has so much to offer. I'm very excited to have her back. "Knowing Kapi, she'll probably not want to make it a thing (reaching 150 ODIs). She's quite humble in the way that she plays and doesn't really look at milestones like that. "But I'm sure when she takes the field for the 150th, we'll try and make it a big deal and make sure it's a special moment for her. Obviously, playing that many games for your country is something super special and deserves to be recognised, even though she may not want to admit it." Kapp's presence will boost the side's chances of bouncing back after having had a poor Tri-Series in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, the West Indies are also coming from a dismal tour of England, where they were whitewashed in both the three-match ODI and T20I series. However, Hayley Matthews returns to the West Indies Women's side as well as Chinelle Henry, a set of players who are known to be game changers. "They didn't have the best series over in England, but they have made a couple of changes. Hayley Matthews is back. Chinelle Henry is back as well, and she's been a key player for them in the last few months," Wolvaardt told the media on Tuesday. "You can never take a team lightly in their home conditions. It could be a completely different ball game here with them being at home, having knowledge about the ground that we're playing on. "They're definitely not a team that you can take lightly at all. They're a team that can easily take the game away from you with much power they have. We're still going to do our due diligence with our planning and make sure that we're on top of our game come tomorrow." The first of three ODIs between the two sides is set to get underway at 4 pm SAST on Wednesday.
IOL News
29-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Abrahams urges Proteas Women to show boldness, bravery on West Indies tour
Chloe Tryon Chloe Tryon (right) celebrates a wicket during the Proteas Women clash against India in Colombo. Photo: SRI LANKA CRICKET Image: Sri Lanka Cricket THE Proteas Women won just a single match on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, having been beaten twice by India Women and once by the hosts. However, from the batting point of view, the South Africans made a statement, producing two 300-plus totals during the trip. The side registered five half-centuries and two centuries, with Tazmin Brits, Chloe Tryon and Annerie Dercksen the notable stars with bat in hand. Moreover, the side introduced two young batting prospects, Karabo Meso and Miané Smit, who have been making rounds with big runs in domestic and Under-19 cricket. 'I reflect quite positively on the Sri Lanka tour in terms of posting those 300-plus scores,' Proteas Women batting coach Baakier Abrahams told Independent Media. 'I think that's a third 300-plus score in the last 12 months, and to me it shows that the work that the ladies have been putting in over the last 12 months is coming to fruition in terms of our style of play. 'With the skill set development, we were able to do that over long periods of time, and then also our mindset of wanting to play a positive brand of cricket, getting to those totals. 'Our top-order didn't really fire, but we were still capable of doing that. 'So, it shows that there's still a lot more in the tank that we can achieve, and we're going to be working quite hard to be putting more of those totals up.' While senior player Chloe Tryon didn't reach the three-figure mark in Sri Lanka, she certainly stepped up her game with the bat, scoring two half-centuries and leading the team in one game when captain Laura Wolvaardt wasn't available for selection. 'Looking over her career and the number of games played versus the number of not-outs, I felt she may have left a couple of not-outs out there where she could have won more games for South Africa,' Abrahams said. 'So, our conversations have been about how many more times can we get her to finish games not-out for South Africa. 'I can't give her enough praise that she's done it in terms of being not-out in Sri Lanka, and playing some impactful knocks for us as one of the senior players in those situations for the benefit of the team. 'So, that's the challenge that I laid in front of her, and she accepted it and she stepped up to it, so she's got to take a lot of credit for how she went about it. 'With Laura being ill in Sri Lanka and Tryon stepping up into the captaincy role, she did it with good authority. So, she did well overall.' The Proteas Women have the West Indies tour on the horizon, and Abrahams has his expectations for the batting group. The batting coach wants to see bravery and boldness. 'What I want to see is braveness and boldness implemented. I want us to make a play early rather than being reactive,' said Abrahams. 'That is the one thing we've been stressing with the ladies is to back themselves that they've developed the skill and trained it sufficiently that regardless of the conditions, the game situation and whatever is put in front of them, that they do still take a positive option in whatever way it looks like to each individual. 'In that way, we then use all our resources, because we do bat quite deep, and that allows us to play in a responsible way, but also in an exciting way. 'So, that's really what we want to see out of the West Indies tour, an improvement on what we started in Sri Lanka.'
Daily Maverick
29-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Maverick
‘Experienced' Marizanne Kapp's welcome return to boost stuttering Proteas Women
The Proteas Women will be boosted by the inclusion of star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp when they face the West Indies. The Proteas Women had a dire 50-over tri-series tour of Sri Lanka at the start of the month – winning only one of their four matches – but now have star all-rounder Marizanne Kapp back in the squad hoping to make a change. The Proteas will tackle West Indies in Barbados throughout June in a six-match white-ball tour, hoping for an improved performance. The last time South Africa won back-to-back cricket matches was in the T20 World Cup in October 2024 – with only two sporadic victories since. From that point, they had a seven-match, all-format tour against England in which they only won one match and then more recently their singular victory against Sri Lanka in a tri-series that included India. Head coach Mandla Mashimbyi came on board halfway through the series against England and arguably the team's most important player, Kapp, was rested for the ODI tour in Sri Lanka. With the Cricket World Cup in India starting in September, the excuses are beginning to dry up. 'Sometimes things have to go wrong for you to get them right,' Mashimbyi said about his ambitions for success at the Cricket World Cup. Kapp's addition to the side will help ensure things go right more often. 'You can never underestimate the value of an experienced player in your squad,' Mashimbyi said of Kapp's return to the national fold 'Based on the plans that were had for Marizanne, in terms of her fitness block and to make sure by the time we get to the World Cup she'll be where she needs to be – that was most important for us at this time.' Besides experience, 35-year-old Kapp adds quality swing bowling with the new ball as well as runs in the middle order – areas in which the team struggled in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 'Having her back in the squad is something I'm looking forward to seeing,' Mashimbyi added. 'Seeing how she operates within the team environment and also the experience that she brings.' Possible wildcard In place of Kapp as well as the ill Anneke Bosch, youngsters Karabo Meso, Seshnie Naidu and Miané Smit were given a run. 'One of the main things we're trying to do as well is create depth within the squad, knowing that anybody coming into the squad can impact the team positively,' Mashimbyi said. Meso and Smit are with the team again for the tour of West Indies, while Naidu has been dropped. Bosch has also not recovered in time for the tour. While Mashimbyi has not been afraid to turn to youth in his short time as coach thus far, he has also not ruled out calling on South Africa's eighth-most-experienced player in the 50-over format. Former captain Dané van Niekerk made a u-turn on her international retirement in 2024 and was aiming to make a return to the international stage at the World Cup in September. That looks unlikely at this stage but not out of the realm of possibility, according to Mashimbyi. 'We are not in a position to say that she can make it or not,' he said. 'Anything can happen. In terms of her being in the plans, I've had a chat with her in February about the things that we require for her to put her name back into the hat. 'I'm going to have to have a follow-up chat with her regarding what she thinks going forward. 'In terms of that, she was not in the plans initially, but you can never count anybody out. When the opportunity presents itself and she's the one that's available to make the team, or she's fit enough, or she's where she needs to be… we can't control that.' Youngster Smit and Suné Luus are currently the two top-order batters who bowl spin in the squad. Neither has made the position completely her own, however. Smit is only two matches into her international career and Luus hasn't scored a half-century in the format since September 2023. 'These tours are not casting [any names] in stone,' Mashimbyi said. 'It's to create depth and to see what other players can do. 'I'll never count a player out. Everybody in domestic cricket, who has done well, is still eligible to play in the upcoming World Cups.' Van Niekerk has a batting average of 36.25 and a bowling average of 19.14, with 138 scalps with her legbreaks, in international cricket. She was in solid form for Western Province Women as well in the past season, scoring a 64-ball century against South Western Districts Women in a T20 clash, which was her second-last match of the season. DM
IOL News
28-05-2025
- Sport
- IOL News
Sacrifices are the reason behind Annerie Dercksen's rapid rise, says batting coach Baakier Abrahams
Annerie Dercksen Annerie Dercksen was the mainstay in the Proteas Women batting effort against Sri Lanka. Photo: BackpagePix Image: BackpagePix BARELY a year into her ODI career, South Africa's newest star – all-rounder Annerie Dercksen – has taken the cricket world by storm. Having impressed with raw pace with the ball and unmatched power with the bat, the 24-year-old has developed at an exponential rate over the past 10 months, as she is now one of the key figures in the Proteas Women squad. On the recent tour of Sri Lanka in the Tri-Series against the hosts and India last month, Dercksen finished as the leading run-scorer with 276 in four innings, including a maiden century and two half-centuries, as she displayed maturity despite being relatively new to the format. Batting coach Baakier Abrahams told Independent Media on Tuesday in an exclusive interview that Dercksen's rapid growth and maturity boil down to the sacrifices she continues to make in search of improvement. A message delivered. 📜 The Proteas Women are ready to conquer the Caribbean! 🇿🇦✈️🌴 Here's our squad for the West Indies T20Is & ODIs fixtures from 11 – 23 June 2025! 🏏#AlwaysRising #WozaNawe #BePartOfIt — Proteas Women (@ProteasWomenCSA) May 26, 2025 Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. 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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ Dercksen has travelled to the Eastern Cape to fine-tune her batting ahead of the West Indies tour, a migration that the right-handed batter had done last year before the ICC Women's T20 World Cup. 'As we speak, she's in Gqeberha again leading up to the West Indies series,' Abrahams said. 'She's got to take a lot of credit. The sacrifices she's making to one, train, two, how coachable she is, and three, how quickly she transfers what she's doing in training, and being brave enough mentally to then go and do it in the game... 'I think the century she made, she came in under pressure. 'That's probably the biggest thing walking in at number seven, to have the maturity to understand the game situation, yet still play her game in terms of what she's been training and the execution of skills. 'When you put the three parts together, that's probably the most pleasing component.' With Marizanne Kapp returning to the squad for next month's West Indies tour, having missed the Sri Lanka trop, many wondered how that would then impact the batting order and where Dercksen bats. However, Abrahams provided clarity, emphasising that the plan is for Dercksen to have the skills to bat anywhere from opening the innings to being lower down the order. 'The approach that we took when we came together, we committed to saying we want to be able for her to have a skill-set to bat anywhere between one and six, without attaching a number to her,' said Abrahams. 'Her ambition is to get into the top-order, but for me, anywhere between one to six is where we based her development and her skill-set on playing any of those roles.' While the young Dercksen forced her way into being a regular in the playing XI with her performances, youngsters Karabo Meso and Miané Smit are also on a similar mission. Meso, being a wicket-keeper batter, would have to unseat the experienced Sinalo Jafta to be a regular in the playing XI. Abrahams revealed that the competition between Meso and Jafta is healthy for the team. 'The nice part of it is that it's creating healthy competition, and whichever way coach Mandla (Mashimbyi) feels he wants to go, we're making sure that the players are all developed from a skill-set and the mindset point of view to fulfil the roles,' he said. 'Karabo and Sinalo have to fight it out. 'That's very good and healthy for the team and for the squad in terms of the development, where the team can go, reaching new heights and breaking records, which is what we want to do.' The women's team have three ODIs and three T20Is in the West Indies from June 11-23 as the World Cup looms.
Hindustan Times
26-05-2025
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
SA-W's Tumi Sekhukhune, Ayanda Hlubi set for a comeback as Proteas announce their squad for upcoming series against WI-W
New Delhi [India] May 26 : South African all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, Tumi Sekhukhune and Ayanda Hlubi are set for a comeback in the upcoming series against West Indies starting from 11 June, according to the ICC website. Kapp returns to the Proteas side after being rested for the recent tri-nation series in Sri Lanka as South Africa prepare to tour the West Indies for three ODIs and as many T20Is from 11 - 23 June. Alongwith the experienced, seamers Tumi Sekhukhune and Ayanda Hlubi find a place in the squad while Miane Smit earns her maiden T20I call-up. Kapp, Sekhukhune and Hlubi will replace spinner Seshnie Naidu and southpaw Lara Goodall, who were part of the tri-nation series squad against Sri Lanka and India. The West Indies tour is vital for the Proteas Women to test their resources ahead of the ICC Women's World Cup 2025 in India, especially after a disappointing outing in the tri-nation series. Proteas women's head coach Mandla Mashimbyi was excited to have the experience of Marizanne, Sekhukhune and Ayanda back into the mix and hoped they'd come with fresh energy to motivate the team to do well. This will also be Mashimbyi's first T20I series as South Africa's head coach. "Sri Lanka was tough, but we took a lot of positives out of that, and whatever gaps we've picked up, we want to make sure that we brush up on them," Mandla Mashimbyi said. "It's an exciting white-ball tour ahead in the West Indies, and a fantastic opportunity for the players to continue testing their skills. The more cricket we play, the more we learn about our combinations and individual growth as a team," he added. Laura Wolvaardt will lead the side and will hope the Proteas replicate their last ODI performance against the West Indies, who are currently on a tour against England. Proteas Women Squad: Laura Wolvaardt , Tazmin Brits, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Ayanda Hlubi, Sinalo Jafta, Marizanne Kapp, Ayabonga Khaka, Masabata Klaas, Sune Luus, Karabo Meso, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Tumi Sekhukhune, Nondumiso Shangase, Miane Smit, Chloe Tryon All six matches in the series will be played at the Three Ws Oval in Barbados. West Indies v South Africa fixtures First ODI: Wednesday, - Barbados Second ODI: Saturday, - Barbados Third ODI: Tuesday, - Barbados First T20I: Friday, - Barbados Second T20I: Sunday, - Barbados Third T20I: Monday, - Barbados.
