Marizanne Kapp produced one of the great World Cup match-winning innings, an unbeaten 81, to haul the Proteas Women to a record six-wicket victory over India and breathe real life into their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on Sunday, 21 June 2026.
Chasing 159 on a dry, spinning surface, South Africa slumped to 25 for 2 inside the powerplay and looked in deep trouble, only for Kapp to take the game by the scruff of the neck. She struck seven fours and four sixes in a 45-ball assault, seeing her side home with five balls to spare and lifting the Proteas Women to two wins from three in a brutal Group 1.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur, playing a landmark 200th T20 International and becoming the first cricketer to reach that figure, won the toss and chose to bat. India raced out of the blocks, Shafali Verma flaying 31 from 15 balls before Kapp had Smriti Mandhana bowled for 17 to break the opening stand.
India had threatened far more in the opening exchanges. Verma peppered the boundary as the openers put on 30, and at 59 for 2 after the powerplay India looked set for a total beyond reach. It was the relentless South African pressure through the middle overs, allied to sharp fielding and a near flawless display in the deep, that pegged the innings back and left the chase within range.
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That early strike sparked a familiar India stutter. Shabnim Ismail had Verma caught behind off a fierce short ball, Ayabonga Khaka trapped Yastika Bhatia lbw, and Nadine de Klerk removed Jemimah Rodrigues with a return catch. Harmanpreet battled to 24 before Ismail bowled her, and although Deepti Sharma counter-attacked for 29 and Richa Ghosh chipped in with 15, disciplined South African bowling kept India to 158 for 7. Kapp finished with two for 27 and Ismail two for 28, while Khaka, De Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba each claimed a wicket.
The reply began disastrously. Left-arm spinner Shree Charani struck twice in the sixth over, having Laura Wolvaardt caught and bowled for 20 and bowling Annerie Dercksen for a two-ball duck, to leave the Proteas Women 25 for 2 in a wicket maiden that lit up Manchester.
What followed was a masterclass in controlled aggression. Kapp found a willing partner in Tazmin Brits, and the pair added 97 for the third wicket to drag South Africa back into the contest. Brits, restored to the top of the order alongside her captain, set the tone for the recovery with clean striking down the ground and through the leg side. By the time she fell for a busy 40 from 36 balls, caught at deep backward square leg off Verma, South Africa needed a manageable 37 from 24 balls, and when De Klerk was bowled by Charani for five, 18 were still wanted from two overs.
Kapp settled the matter almost single-handedly. She reached her half-century from 34 balls and then cut loose, twice clearing the ropes off Deepti Sharma in a 16-run penultimate over to bring the equation down to two from the final six balls. Chloé Tryon, unbeaten on 10 from four balls, steered the winning boundary off Nandani Sharma to spark celebrations in the South African camp, Kapp finishing on 81 not out to claim the Player of the Match award.
The win carried the Proteas Women into the record books. Their successful pursuit of 159 was the third-highest run chase in the history of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, and the first time South Africa had ever chased down a target of more than 150 at the global event. It also burnished a growing reputation as one of the format’s premier chasing sides, South Africa having now run down 150-plus targets on nine occasions in Women’s T20 Internationals, level with Australia and one clear of England.
Kapp, named Player of the Match, reflected on a chase that demanded patience before power. “I really struggled those first 10, 15 balls and eventually got my timing, and then I just put my head down and I felt like that partnership with Taz (Brits) set it up beautifully for us,” she said.
The innings also delivered an emphatic answer to the questions asked of South Africa against spin, the very weakness India had targeted by handing Prema Rawat her debut. It was Kapp who turned that supposed vulnerability into a strength, taking 60 of her runs from just 32 balls faced against the India spinners, the most any batter has scored against India’s slow bowlers in a single innings at a T20 World Cup.
Wolvaardt was unequivocal about the value of her match-winner.
“I think she’s probably the biggest big-match player that I’ve ever seen!”
Proteas Women Captain, Laura Wolvaardt
The result was made all the more notable by the occasion. Harmanpreet became the first cricketer, woman or man, to play 200 T20 Internationals, and India handed the debut to legspinner Rawat, but the day belonged to the Proteas Women and their talisman, who carried her bat through a chase that had seemed to be slipping away.
Having lost their opener to Australia before edging Pakistan, South Africa have now toppled India to move to two wins from three in the so-called group of death, keeping their semi-final hopes firmly in their own hands.
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The Proteas Women will look to build on this when they meet the Netherlands at Bristol County Ground in Bristol on Thursday, 25 June 2026, before closing their pool campaign against Bangladesh at Lord’s in London on Sunday, 28 June 2026, knowing that points and net run rate alike may yet decide who advances from a relentless Group 1.
The Proteas Women Group Results and Fixtures at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England and Wales
Sat 13 June: Australia beat South Africa by 65 runs (Old Trafford, Manchester)
Wed 17 June: South Africa beat Pakistan by 2 wickets (Edgbaston, Birmingham)
Sun 21 June: South Africa beat India by 6 wickets (Old Trafford, Manchester)
Thu 25 June, 19h30: South Africa vs. Netherlands (Bristol County Ground, Bristol)
Sun 28 June, 11h30: South Africa vs. Bangladesh (Lord’s, London)
All times are SAST.
The Proteas Women Starting XI against India at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in England and Wales
1. Laura Wolvaardt (Captain)
2. Tazmin Brits
3. Annerie Dercksen
4. Dané van Niekerk
5. Marizanne Kapp
6. Nadine de Klerk
7. Chloé Tryon
8. Sinalo Jafta (Wicketkeeper)
9. Shabnim Ismail
10. Ayabonga Khaka
11. Nonkululeko Mlaba
India Women’s Starting XI
1. Shafali Verma
2. Smriti Mandhana
3. Yastika Bhatia
4. Jemimah Rodrigues
5. Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain)
6. Richa Ghosh (Wicketkeeper)
7. Deepti Sharma
8. Prema Rawat
9. Arundhati Reddy
10. Shree Charani
11. Nandani Sharma
Main Photo Caption: Marizanne Kapp struck an unbeaten 81 to steer the Proteas Women to a record six-wicket win over India at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026, at Old Trafford in Manchester, England, on 21 June 2026. Photo: Getty Images / ICC
Photo 2 Caption: Tazmin Brits made a crucial 40 to help rebuild the Proteas Women innings against India at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
Photo 3 Caption: Shabnim Ismail claimed two wickets to support the Proteas Women’s bowling effort against India at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026.
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