Proteas stars hunt Women’s Premier League glory in India

Four South Africans are on the hunt for the Women’s Premier League (WPL) trophy when the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Delhi Capitals collide in the tournament final at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, India on Thursday night.

Proteas skipper Laura Wolvaardt and star allrounders Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk, as well as former national player Lizelle Lee will all be in action in what should be a cracking finale.

Wolvaardt, Kapp and Lee are all part of the Capitals team that is gunning for a first ever WPL title, while De Klerk will be aiming to help RCB reclaim the gong they first won in 2024.

For Kapp and the Capitals, they will be aiming to end three years of hurt, having reached every WPL final so far but come up short in all three of them, while Wolvaardt and Lee, in their first final, will hope to be the spark that gets them over the line.

Only two South Africans have ever won the WPL; De Klerk being the first in RCB’s title winning campaign in 2024, although she only played in one match, while former Proteas fast bowler Shabnim Ismail played a key role for Mumbai Indians when they triumphed last year.

Strong form

All four South Africans in this year’s final have been in pretty strong form and have played a role in their team reaching the trophy game.

De Klerk has arguably been the best of them, with her sitting third on the wicket taking charts with 15 scalps and best figures of 4/22, while she has also hit 126 runs at an average of 42 and highest score of 63no.

Lee and Wolvaardt are ranked fourth and fifth respectively on the WPL run scoring charts, Lee having hit 283 runs at an average of 31.44 and highest score of 86, while Wolvaardt has struck 273 runs at an average of 45.5 and highest score of 77.

Kapp has picked up 10 wickets with best bowling figures of 3/30, while also scoring 49 runs with a best of 19no.

In all it is set to be a thrilling final encounter and a South African will be lifting the trophy at the end of it, regardless of which team wins.