Marizanne Kapp, South Africa’s in-form allrounder, has been ruled out of the Commonwealth Games after cutting short her participation in the tour of England for family reasons.
Kapp returned home before the first of three T20Is last Thursday after her brother-in-law suffered serious injuries in an accident which left him in intensive care.
At the time, Cricket South Africa said her availability for the Games, starting in Birmingham later this week, was yet to be confirmed and, as expected, head coach Hilton Moreeng confirmed that she would not return to England for the tournament immediately after the hosts had won the third T20I in Derby on Monday night to win that leg 3-0 and seal a 14-points-to-two victory in their multi-format series.
Kapp’s absence is another blow on a difficult tour for South Africa, whose only points from the series came in the rain-affected drawn Test last month, when Kapp scored 150 and 43 not out to keep her side in the contest. She also posted half-centuries in two of the three ODIs, with England also sweeping that leg of the series 3-0.
After the Test, South Africa lost explosive batter Lizelle Lee, who stunned the side by announcing her international retirement amid a spat over the granting of an NOC for her to play in the Hundred. Shabnim Ismail, their key pace bowler, took just two wickets for the entire series, one in each of the last two ODIs, after missing the Test with a calf-muscle injury, not playing in the first ODI and then going wicketless in the first two T20Is before sitting out Monday night’s 38-run defeat with a back problem.
Sune Luus, South Africa’s captain, also missed the final match in Derby through illness, and she hasn’t bowled since two warm-up games against England Women A in the first week of July – between the Test and the ODIs – because of a finger injury.
Moreeng said that Luus and Ismail would be fit to bowl when South Africa open their Commonwealth Games campaign against New Zealand on Saturday.
“It’s a precaution from medical to make sure they are 100 per cent for that game and ready for the first game,” Moreeng said. “Yes, they’ll be 100 per cent.
“She’s recovering very well, Sune, and she definitely will be able to bowl, yes. Regarding Marizanne, she will be out of the Commonwealth [Games].”
