Gun allrounder cleared of serious injury but might miss must-win second ODI in Sydney
South Africa will be sweating on the fitness of star allrounder Marizanne Kapp ahead of Wednesday’s must-win second ODI in Sydney.
Kapp was forced to retire hurt in Saturday’s first 50-over game after top-scoring with 50, and was the sole shining light in what was an otherwise dismal day for the Proteas in Adelaide.
The star allrounder was struck on her left elbow by a throw as she completed a second run to reach the milestone, and was subsequently sent for scans and ruled out of the remainder of the match.
In promising news for the tourists, Kapp was cleared of serious damage, with the scan revealing a “soft tissue injury” to her upper left arm.
There is a three-day gap between games, but South Africa will also be looking at the larger picture, with a third one-dayer and a one-off Test to follow in this multi-format series.
“It looks like there’s a bit of bruising, which is a bit unfortunate,” Proteas allrounder Chloe Tryon said of Kapp’s injury.
“We’ve got some time until the next game (and) a quality player like that, we want her to play so hopefully a speedy recovery and hopefully she can play the next one.
“She looked really uncomfortable, I know a player like her, she wants to be batting as much as she can, she loves ODI cricket so I knew when she came off that she probably wasn’t feeling well.
“Knowing her, she’s probably going to want to play anyway, regardless of how she feels. That’s just how she is.”
Kapp plays lone hand before freak injury blow
South Africa will need to quickly regroup after Saturday’s eight-wicket defeat, that saw them bowled out for 105 before Australia chased their target in just 19 overs.
A competitive display across the three T20Is including an historic win had the tourists confident heading into the 50-over left, but Tryon said they would now need to take some fresh lessons out of Saturday’s defeat.
“We learned a lot from the T20s as a group and we’ve showed up at different stages and it’s going to be about that bounce back,” she said.
“We know Australia’s going to come 10 times harder than us, that’s why they’re the best in the world.
“We’ve always said we want to play the best in the world, so we’ve got to show the next game, so if we can just sit and have the conversations we need to have and make sure the next game we go with a little bit more intent as a unit and a little bit more energy as well.”
Schutt strikes early in milestone match
Australia’s comfortable win was set up by a brilliant new-ball display from Megan Schutt and Kim Garth, which tied down the Proteas and kept them to 3-9 at the end of the first nine overs.
Kapp, who hit 50 from 58 balls including eight boundaries, was the only Protea to look remotely comfortable in the middle, and Tryon said her teammates could learn a lot from her approach.
“I think they came really hard at us and they bowled really good (and) I just felt as a unit in the first innings we just didn’t give it back to them, we let (Garth and Schutt) settle,” she said.
“(Kapp) came out there with the intent and I think that’s really important is a batter, you have got to be proactive in the middle.”
