Picture Credit: Twitter
After few days of exciting and entertaining 100-ball cricket in the United Kingdom, the stage was set at Lord's for the final showdown in 'The Hundred'. The day kicked off with the finals of women's tournament as Oval Invincibles locked horns with Southern Brave. It was expected to be a thrilling contest between two evenly balanced sides. However, it turned out to be a rather one-sided contest, thanks to the heroics of Marizanne Kapp.
The South African cricketer put on a stellar all-round performance on Saturday, which will certainly be remembered by fans across the globe for many years to come. On a day which belonged to Kapp, the 31-year-old began the proceedings with her valuable contribution with the bat. She played a quick-fire cameo of 26 runs (off 14 balls) to power Oval Invincibles to a competitive total of 121/6.
Kapp dismisses Wyatt and Dunkley in first over
However, it was with the ball that Kapp unleashed her true potential. Starting with a wide down the off side, the right-arm pacer found her rhythm pretty quickly as she got rid of dangerous Danielle Wyatt with a beautiful delivery. The ball moved away gingerly after pitching and got a nick off the bat of Wyatt, going straight into the hands of Sarah Bryce.
After getting a breakthrough in the very first over, Kapp struck the major blow as she dismissed in-form Sophia Dunkley with another out-swinging delivery as the edge went straight into the hands of van Niekerk standing in the second slips. This was some moment to cherish for everyone as two partners combined to give their side a huge breakthrough in the finals at Lord's.
Watch the video here:
Netizens in awe of Kapp's performance
The captain decided to continue with Kapp for the full block and the move reaped huge rewards when the South African pacer dismissed Gaby Lewis off her 10th delivery. After already making match-winning contributions with bat and ball, Kapp added icing on top of the cake when she took a brilliant diving catch to send the opposition captain Anya Shrubsole back to the pavilion, summing up a perfect all-round performance.
Watch Kapp's stunning opening spell here:
Kapp eventually finished the match with some staggering bowling figures which were as follows:
Balls bowled - 18
Dots bowled - 13
Runs conceded - 9
Wickets taken - 4
Fans jokingly asked the organizers to hand 'Hero of the match' award to Marizanne Kapp during the match as there was no doubt about who would win the award eventually. While some fans were in awe of the brilliant performance by the veteran, others hailed her performance as 'world class'.