Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail have been included in both the ICC ODI and T20I Team of the Year selections for 2021.
Three Proteas Women’s players were named in each of the teams.
Kapp and Ismail were joined by Lizelle Lee in the ODI team, with Laura Wolvaardt also in the T20I team.
Kapp has been one of the best women’s ODI performers with both bat and ball in 2021.
She played the role of an attacking middle-order batter brilliantly, scoring her runs at an outstanding strike rate of 98.91. She amassed a total of 183 runs in 2021 at an average of 61, including a best of 68* which came against Pakistan in Durban in January.
The 32-year-old played an equally important role with her bowling, picking up 11 wickets at an average of 29.18.
With 18 wickets, Ismail finished as the joint second-highest women’s ODI wicket-taker in 2021.
A reliable pace bowler both with the new ball and at the death, she was a consistent performer for South Africa throughout the course of the 12 matches she played – going at only 4.11 runs per over.
With 632 runs, Lee finished as the highest run-scorer in women’s ODIs in 2021.
The South African wicketkeeper-batter played 11 matches in the calendar year and recorded an outstanding average of 90.28, with one century and five half-centuries.
She got her side off to rapid starts, which is summed up by her strike rate of 79.00 – the third-highest among batters with a minimum of 300 runs in the calendar year.
Kapp played only six T20Is in 2021 but still delivered impactful all-round performances. She amassed exactly 100 runs and picked up eight wickets at an excellent average of 15.00.
Ismail also only made six appearances last year, but the experienced pace bowler picked up 11 wickets at a mean average and strike rate of 13.00 and 12.0 respectively. This includes a five-for, which came in the home series against Pakistan in January.
Wolvaardt was one of the best performers among middle-order batters in 2021.
She gave South Africa much-needed acceleration in the middle overs, scoring her runs at a mind-boggling strike rate of 161. She was extremely consistent, too, as her runs came at an outstanding average of 53.66.
