South Africa's women all-rounder Marizanne Kapp will be playing her 100th ODI against Pakistan today and the player said that it is a massive honour and privilege to be representing her country and it's a childhood dream come true.
"It's a massive honour and privilege. It's something you dream about when you're younger. My first dream was to just play for my country, never mind a hundred ODIs. It's especially special when you look at where we first started to where women's cricket is now. I'm really excited for the match, and hopefully it goes our way," International Cricket Council quoted Kapp as saying on Monday.
"The way I first started off, coming into this team, I was a bit nervous and I lacked a bit in training, if I look at the way I train now. Where we are now as a team is really special. I've made lots of special memories along the way, the biggest one being when we reached the semi-final of the World Cup in England, and hopefully, before I retire, we can do it again," she added.
Kapp made her ODI debut in the 2009 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup against Australia and since then she has become one of most reliable players for the South African team.
The 29-year-old has taken 109 wickets in the ODI format at an average of 24.11 and has scored 1708 runs at an average of 26.68. The player also boasts of a century against Pakistan in ODIs.
The player said winning the World Cup is the one thing she really wants to achieve before calling it quits in the international game.
"It's everyone's dream to win a World Cup, so that would be number one on my list, but personally, I think batting wise, I can still offer a lot more to this team. Hopefully, this year, I can turn that around and contribute a bit more," Kapp said.
"It's a bit sad that I've played 100 ODIs, and I've never played a single game at home (in Port Elizabeth). I've been playing for South Africa for the last ten years and I've not played one game at home so not everyone has seen me play, but hopefully in the near future I can play one game at home before it's time to retire," she added.
South Africa take on Pakistan in a three-match ODI series and five-match T20I series beginning today.
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