Former captain of the South Africa women’s cricket team Dane van Niekerk has decided to hang her boots from international cricket.
Her teammate and wife, Marizanne Kapp, confirmed the news after Gujarat Giants (GG) versus Delhi Capitals (DC) match at the Women’s Premier League (WPL) in Mumbai on Saturday, March 11.
“Sometimes it feels like I am the one who’s retiring, just so heartbreaking. We’ve grown up in the South Africa team. It was difficult to hear the decision. She seems in a better place mentally and that’s what matters,” said Kapp.
Earlier in the day, Niekerk shared a cryptic post on her Instagram account, saying: “You have to accept that some chapters in our lives have to close without closure. There is no point in losing yourself by trying to fix what’s meant to stay broken.”
One of the shrewdest captains in women’s cricket, Van Niekerk’s decision to retire comes a month and a half after her non-selection in the Proteas squad for the T20 World Cup last month. According to the selectors, Van Niekerk failed to pass the fitness test of a 2km training run by 18 seconds and was, therefore, left out of the squad. In her absence, Sune Luus led the South African team to their maiden World Cup final, which they eventually lost to Australia by 19 runs.
As far as Van Niekerk’s cricketing career is concerned, she made her international debut in 2009 against West Indies and went on to represent South Africa in 107 ODIs, amassing 2175 runs and taking 138 wickets. In T20Is, she scored 1877 runs at a strike rate of 94.94 and scalped 65 wickets at an economy rate of 5.45 in 86 games.
The 29-year-old also played a Test match against India in Mysore in November 2014. Her final appearance was in an ODI versus West Indies on September 19, 2021.
