Kapp drags South Africa over the line in a must-win encounter

• Powerful all-rounder hits 81 from 45 balls to win the game for South Africa

• South Africa in trouble at 25/2 after 6 overs chasing 159

• India post under-par score after rapid start from Verma and Mandhana

• Qualification from the Group of Death will likely hang on Australia-India game on Sunday

It was a game that might have changed the direction of a tournament and the destination of the World Cup.

South Africa, the serial finalists who have never crossed the ultimate threshold to be World Champions, overcame India in a must-win clash at Old Trafford. Having been soundly defeated by Australia in Manchester last weekend, the Proteas knew that defeat today would almost certainly make them the highest-ranked victims of the “group of death”.

However, inspired by the ferociously determined Marizanne Kapp, the South Africans successfully chased down 159, with 5 balls to spare. 

The day began with India winning the toss and batting. What followed was an onslaught from Verma and Mandhana, as Kapp’s, Ismail’s and Tryon’s bowling was despatched to all corners of the ground in a brutal powerplay, leaving India at an impressive 59/2 after 6 overs.

That such a strong start did not result in a score of 175+ was mainly down to some miserly bowling by Ismail and Ayabonga Khaka in the middle overs. The 10 overs after the powerplay produced only 63 runs for the loss of three more wickets. India needed Richa Ghosh to perform at this stage, in a similar fashion to the way Dani Gibson and Freya Kemp performed for England on the previous day. But Ghosh’s failure to fire (she scored 15 from 14 before being caught by Khaka on the boundary), meant that despite a well struck 29 from 21 by Deepti Sharma, it felt that India’s final score of 158/7 was about 20 runs short of what was required.

South Africa, who had brought in Brits and Van Niekerk to the starting XI, having scraped past Pakistan in the previous game, started very slowly. Their powerplay was the polar opposite of India’s, with Wolvaardt and Brits hitting 25 from the first five overs, before Sree Charani bowled a double wicket maiden in the sixth over, dismissing first Wolvaardt, for a run-a-ball 20, then Dercksen for a two-ball duck. 

Kapp joined Brits with 134 required and the run rate almost up to 10 runs per over. Between them they added 97 from the next 10.3 overs, therefore not reducing the rate, but neither did they allow it to increase very much. Marizanne Kapp is one of the most visibly determined cricketers one could ever see. Her full range of emotions remain on full display throughout the game, whether batting or bowling. As the innings progressed, it became apparent that South Africa’s fate lay in her hands. If she could remain at the crease until the 20^th over, South Africa would win. If she were to be dismissed, the likelihood was that South Africa would lose.

The 17^th over of this game is one that India will look back on ruefully, particularly if they exit this tournament at the group stage. Shafali Verma bowled it, dismissing Brits with her first ball. The fourth ball was hit over the rope by Kapp for six runs, but when trying to repeat the shot the next ball, Kapp could only find the grateful hands of substitute fielder Radah Yadav on the boundary. It would have been the most straightforward of catches – the type you see players practising endlessly on the boundary before every game with the fielding coach, and Yadav is one of the best fielders in the team. But she somehow spilled the catch. Kapp was reprieved and what a price she made India pay for their profligacy!

In the penultimate over, with 18 runs still required, Kapp launched Deepti Sharma for two sixes over the head of Jemimah Rodrigues at deep mid-wicket. It only remained for Chloe Tryon to hit the winning runs from the first ball of the final over. Kapp’s innings of 81 not out from 45 had won the game for South Africa and kept their World Cup hopes alive.

For India, it was a strange game. When batting, it was rare to see them run hard and put pressure on fielders. Many singles were ambled when there was a small chance of turning them into twos. I’m not sure if this is the influence of the WPL, where short boundaries make twos a rarity and threes an impossibility, but there was a contrast between how not busy their batters looked at the crease compared with England the previous day.

Similarly, in the field, their players (with one or two notable exceptions, such as the peerless Jemimah Rodrigues) seemed to lack the energy and enthusiasm to chase lost causes. Now one could argue that chasing lost causes in the field is just another way of wasting energy, but to me it sets a tone which is infectious across the team, just as failing to chase after a ball that is heading towards the boundary sets a different, more casual and more lethargic tone.

It was interesting to observe the interactions between Deepti Sharma and Shafali Verma. Deepti was visibly annoyed with her team-mate on several occasions, angrily gesticulating for her to move three metres to the left or the right when fielding at long off to Deepti’s bowling. It seems to me that as Deepti’s powers as a leading all-rounder are waning, Shafali’s are growing. Shafali is trusted to bowl in the powerplay and at the death. Deepti’s two overs at the death cost 27 runs today. She may have got a five-for by knocking over three Pakistan tailenders in the last game, but one senses that the 28-year-old Deepti needs to make some adjustments to her game in order to prolong her international career. 

It is interesting to see how support for the India team has changed over the years. When they toured in 2021, at places like Hove, Northampton, Bristol and Worcester there was clearly lots of support for them, but what has happened in the last five years is a whole new level of fandom. Thousands of India fans remained behind for over an hour after the game to get close to their heroes. Even when fielding on the boundary, someone like Jemimah Rodrigues receives such a deluge of admiration, which one could not ever imagine an English or Australian player receive from their home crowd.

When India score a run, there are cheers, when they score a boundary, there is a loud, standing ovation, and taking a wicket creates a cathartic yell of joy. It has been wonderful to be part of this match-day experience, which has enhanced all of India’s World Cup games and created a real buzz around the whole competition. India’s players are celebrities in a way that England’s and Australia’s aren’t.

People want to share fleeting moments close to their celebrity aura in a way that goes beyond even what a Premier League footballer would experience in the UK. Maybe only certain pop stars in the UK would experience such adulation. It is difficult to appreciate the challenge it must be for these players to live in this sort of celebrity bubble.

And so South Africa move on to play against The Netherlands and Bangladesh, with the hope of winning both games convincingly and boosting their net run rate. For India, who also play Bangladesh on Thursday at Old Trafford, they end the group stage at Lords, knowing that victory over Australia is the only way to guarantee a semi-final place.