Don't mess with Kapp: Marizanne flips tears into anger to deliver double punch

It takes some courage to try something new against Marizanne Kapp, especially in the Powerplay. Not one to be ruffled by reputation, Smriti Mandhana attempted to experiment with the scoop – a shot she had been practising in the nets.

On training day, one of those scoops had missed contact and hit her on the left shoulder, forcing her to abort practice. On match day, it missed and rattled her stumps, ending an 11-ball stay and triggering India's batting collapse.

The attempt to experiment against Marizanne Kapp had failed.

Kapp had turned up unwell on match day. "I just didn't feel well at all. After all my points into the changing room, even cried a bit," she confessed after the game.

But on the field, she put on her usual face. "People always say I'm so angry when I play cricket," Kapp says. "Show me a bowler who's going to smile when somebody scores a six or a fifty."

Much of that anger started spilling out after a flick from Mandhana went past a diving mid-on. But soon after, with the ball starting to grip, she came round the wicket and delivered a seam-up straight on the stumps. Mandhana missed. From that point on, India's early momentum started to slip.

Explaining her reaction, Kapp said: "It's always a challenge bowling to Smriti. She's a wonderful batter. I've fought a lot of fights with her. So it was good to strike because even though the Indian team started off well, they kept losing wickets."

As the rest of the bowlers were getting plundered in the Powerplay, Kapp kept her lines tight, conceding just 21 from her three overs.

Heading into the last over, India were placed at 152/6, still 18 runs short of what head coach Amol Muzumdar considered par. Kapp, brought back on, outfoxed Richa Ghosh with a slower one, ensuring India took only six runs from the final over.

But that wasn't the end of it. Marizanne Kapp, South Africa's No. 4, resurrected their World Cup hopes, bringing alive a chase that looked improbable.

Kapp, the batter, had been missing for a while. It had been eight months since she last played an innings of note in the green jersey. Then she walked out on Saturday with the scoreboard reading 25 for 2.

"It's sometimes so difficult batting those periods of a T20 game because you almost can't go too hard – you can't afford to lose another wicket," Kapp admitted.

Three overs later, the required rate had soared past 10-an-over. So Kapp got going, taking on leg-spinner Prema Rawat with a carved boundary over covers and a hard sweep over the ropes.

"We just kept saying 'We don't let it go too far past 10 runs an over'. We know we can catch up, especially with the players still in the dugout," she said.

The partnership flourished to 97 runs and set up an exciting finale. With 22 needed off 13 balls, Kapp smoked Deepti Sharma for 16 runs in the penultimate over, making the rest a formality.

She called it: "Probably my best T20 innings that I've played, especially against the quality Indian attack on this specific wicket."

The performance strengthened South Africa's semifinal hopes after two underwhelming performances.

"It was just about getting over the line. Even today we still haven't played our best cricket. There's still people like Wolfie that's not fired," Kapp said.

She was dropped thrice, two of which were spilled by Radha Yadav. The result? As she showed on Saturday, Kapp is not the player you experiment against – especially when she is "angry".