South Africa are expected to welcome back veteran and influential all-rounder Marizanne Kapp, who missed the first match earlier this week. Her absence was felt as the Proteas went down by four wickets via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method.

Kapp joined the squad in the Caribbean later than her teammates following the passing of her father-in-law just days before departure.

Marizanne Kapp. Photo: Cricinfo

Not only will she be pulling on the green and gold for the first time this year, but she’s also set to play in her 150th One-Day International for South Africa. A remarkable achievement for one of the game’s most consistent performers.

Reflecting on the milestone, Kapp admitted it’s a moment she never quite saw coming.

“I’m extremely proud. Looking back not only at my own career but also where women’s cricket started when I first came into the national set-up – I didn’t even know there was international women’s cricket,” she said.

“When I made my debut, I just thought, I’ll give this a go. I’ve always loved the game, but I never thought women’s cricket would reach the level it has and that I’d still be playing 15 or 16 years later. It’s definitely a very proud moment, and hopefully, I’ve still got a few more games in me.”

Looking ahead to Saturday’s clash, Kapp said the team doesn’t need to reinvent the wheel – just fine-tune a few areas.

“We started off okay in the first ten overs during the powerplay. If you look at the scorecard, a lot of players got into the 20s and 30s, but nobody went on to make a big score.” she noted.

“In these conditions, against this bowling attack, you need someone to bat through. We had several starts, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t enough.

“I think we were probably 30 to 40 runs short. It’s always going to be tough for our bowlers to defend a total like that on these kinds of wickets. Even thinking back to the last tour, we know we haven’t always been at our best with the ball.

“We’ve been a bit inconsistent, bowling on both sides of the wicket but that’s something we can work on. Bowling has probably been a bit of a concern, yes, but we also know the batters didn’t quite do enough either.”

The second ODI at Cave Hill is scheduled to get underway at 16:00 on Saturday.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek dg