WPL 2024: Meet Delhi Capitals' Marizanne Kapp, World No. 1 ODI allrounder

WPL 2024: Marizanne Kapp was player of the match in the last two Delhi Capitals games. (Image via X/Marizanne Kapp @kappie777)

Marizanne Kapp, the No. 1-ranked ODI allrounder in the world, is a pace-bowling sensation who can swing the ball prodigiously both ways and is one of the cleanest hitters of the ball going around. She has played 100 T20Is, 140 ODIs and two Test matches for South Africa.

Since making her international debut at the 2009 World Cup in Australia, Kapp has consistently upped her efficacy in both disciplines, making her something of an indispensable cog in the wheels of every team she plays for, including the Delhi Capitals at the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Where is Marizanne Kapp from?

Marizanne Kapp hails from South Africa. She was born in Cape Province’s Port Elizabeth and represented Eastern Province in netball and athletics. She is married to her former South Africa team-mate and captain Dane van Niekerk, who was part of the Royal Challengers Bangalore squad in WPL 2023.

What has Marizanne Kap's performance in the WPL been like to date?

In WPL 2024, Kapp bagged two Player-of-the-Match Awards for her performances in the Capitals’ last two games. Against the UP Warriorz, she dismantled the opposition top order in the Powerplay, returning figures of 3 for 5. She followed it up with a quickfire 32-run knock and figures of 2 for 35 against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the Capitals’ opening game, which they lost to the Mumbai Indians off only the last ball of the match, Kapp had made 16 and taken 1 for 32.

In WPL 2023, she made 177 runs in seven innings at an average of 44.25. With the ball, she took nine wickets in as many innings, including her WPL best figures of 5 for 15, at an economy of 5.72, en route to the Capitals' runners-up finish.

Which phase of play does she usually operate in in T20s?

All of them. Though mostly an opening bowler, she can perform with aplomb in the middle overs and at the death, too. The lateral movement she elicits, especially in conditions favouring swing, keeps even the world’s best batters guessing and, more often than not, leaves their feet movement – or the lack thereof – exposed.

What does Kapp make of her efficacy with the ball?

“Wherever I've been playing, whether international cricket or in leagues, I'm probably better off bowling with the new ball. So, we always look to give me as much of this with the new ball, especially when it's going well,” Kapp said in a post-match press conference earlier this week in Bengaluru.

“I feel like with these teams especially, you want to keep on attacking, especially if you have one or two wickets down. So, it's a plan we have [at the Capitals]. We have some pretty good death bowlers, so that allows me to bowl upfront more with the new ball.

“It's a lot of hard work that goes into that. As an allrounder and a pace bowler, you'll always have a few niggles or illness or something and it's just nice to come out and I hit my straps and get the win for my team.”