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Though Marizanne Kapp’s annoyance with her own form and more broadly that of the Proteas before the T20 World Cup in England is understandable, she will also be aware that it is better to blow out the cobwebs before the tournament starts.Kapp took four wickets in a warm-up match against Ireland this week but declared herself unhappy.“I don’t have rhythm yet; I’m not feeling great,” said South Africa’s star all-rounder. “It’s been a struggle; I’m hoping to get there by the time we start the first game [of the tournament].”That first match is against Australia on Saturday at Old Trafford and is exactly where Kapp needs to be in rhythm and feeling good about herself. It is a blockbuster opener for both sides; the Australians are desperate to re-establish themselves as the sport’s top dogs after being knocked out in the semifinals of the past two ICC competitions, while South Africa are still chasing an elusive world title. The Proteas have been slow starters in recent World Cups. They suffered a shock loss to Sri Lanka at Newlands in 2023, and in last year’s ODI event they were blown away by England, who dismissed them for 69. Still, the South Africans did recover to finish as runners-up in both those tournaments. Nevertheless, they will want to avoid any early missteps. They’re in a tricky group, which contains another of the competition’s favourites, India, along with Pakistan and Bangladesh, who on their day can upset the best-laid plans. Kapp knows the importance of a good start and wants the batters to provide more support for skipper Laura Wolvaardt. “We know what she can do. Wolvie always performs on the big stage, but the rest of us need to chip in too.” Wolvaardt is leading arguably the most experienced squad she’s ever had into the World Cup, which includes Kapp, Shabnim Ismail and Dané van Niekerk.“They have a lot of knowledge of the conditions over here, and I think someone like Shabs, since she retired, we’ve sort of been lacking that really fast bowler in our line-up and someone who can make a bit of an impact throughout the game,” said the Proteas captain. “Same with Dané. She still offers so much from a leadership point of view as well and can help me with a lot of captaincy stuff too.”The Proteas’ preparations were hampered by bad weather this week, though they play one more warm-up match against New Zealand before travelling to Manchester for the clash against Australia. The tournament starts on Friday with hosts England taking on Sri Lanka.
