The Women’s Big Bash League final was played out on November 27 when Adelaide Strikers took on the Perth Scorchers, and the Scorchers emerged victorious by the barest of margins. The game saw South African couple Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk face each in a competitive final for the first time, one which was trumped by the former.
Ahead of the final, Kapp spoke to the press and explained how nervous she was about the fixture, on the prospect of facing her wife. Interestingly, Kapp dismissed Niekerk twice during the group stages, and she said the nervousness stems from the fact that she could get lucky the third time.
Kapp and Niekirk, who previously won the title two times with Sydney Sixers together, are currently donning the Orange of the Scorchers, and blue of Strikers respectively for this season and straight away, they are about to face each other in the finale.
“If we bowl first, it’s literally me up against her immediately. But look, it’s part of the game and we’re used to it. I always tell everyone that it’s never easy playing against Dane because she knows me so well and she knows what I’m thinking and what I’m trying to do,”
said Kapp to cricket.com.au.
She also added that Niekerk gets upset everytime Kapp dismisses her, as the former gets plenty of abuse on social media whenever this happens. It is a scenario they aren’t usually looking forward to, but it is unavoidable when they’re up against each other.
On the contrary, Niekerk mentioned that she struggles to read her wife on the field despite knowing her for over a decade. She said in an interview with Channel Seven that after all these years, she still has no idea what she will bowl next, but the hope will be for her to take on her in the early overs and get as many runs as possible.
Kapp also spoke up vehemently about the last instance when a few fans had bombarded Niekerk with abusive texts. This happened just a couple of days ago after the final, when a couple of random fans sexually abused the South African all-rounder and asked her to quit the game for not performing well enough in the final.
Kapp was named player of the match for her 23-ball 31 and picked up one wicket with the ball, dismissing the dangerous Bridget Patterson. Her knock with the bat guided her side to a decent total and included four boundaries. Niekerk, on the other hand, had a horrible outing, scoring just six runs in 13 balls and was eventually dismissed by Taneale Peschel when they were chasing 147 runs.
The Strikers got some decent contributions from skipper Tahlia McGrath and Madeline Penna, but they fell 12 runs short of their opposition, and Scorchers won their first-ever WBBL title. The women in blue had decent opportunities in the game to take control, but the slow start given by the top order hindered their chances of winning their first title.
Kapp and van Niekerk have been a part of the South African contingent for a long period of time, and both of them established themselves as two of their most important cricketers. They tied the knot in 2018, becoming only the second same-sex couple in the cricketing fraternity after Amy Satterthwaite and Lea Tahuhu.
