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The legend that is Dane van Niekerk

Dane van Nieker is one of the best skippers the South African women’s team has ever had. As she celebrates her 29th birthday, we have a special tribute for the all-rounder.

Happy Birthday to the legend that is Dane van Nieker-ayh
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Delhi, First Published May 14, 2022, 6:37 PM IST

By Dev Tyagi

Even as the Proteas women enjoyed a fabulous ODI World Cup campaign earlier this year, you could sense the bitter disappointment confronting a certain Dane Van Niekerk. While the happiness was pretty evident the moment it was confirmed that South Africa would play England in the semis, something didn’t quite sit well. There was something amiss; instead of being part of the live wire of an action the Proteas were involved in on the field, Dane van Niekerk was seen as an expert on a leading Women’s content platform offering analysis on the game and the day’s proceedings. 

Can you possibly fathom the sight of a lioness elsewhere other than out in the wild- right? For it’s where the predator belongs: leading the pack from the front. Alas, one of South Africa’s most precious cricketing talents had to face the ignominy of sitting out of the World Cup having sustained a foot fracture. 

Thankfully, that wasn’t the case for Van Niekerk in the last World Cup edition that South Africa participated in. The 2020 T20 Women’s World Cup in Australia was perhaps the epitome of peak performance that Van Niekerk orchestrated and contributed significantly to. It was the occasion where the glorious all-rounder led from the front in correcting a major wrong in Protean history where the T20 World Cups were concerned. 

In their first game of the series, one against England, a team South Africa had never beaten in any T20 World Cup (up to that point), Dane van Niekerk found herself amid pulsating action. With a tricky 124 needed for a win, Van Niekerk scored 46 off those from just 51 deliveries as she anchored a perfect run chase in which Du Preez mega six off Katherine Brunt formed the pivotal winning headline for South Africa. Earlier in the contest, the leg spinner would help her side restrict England courtesy of a handy two-for.

The ideal sight of a captain leading from the front. However, it was not the first time Dane van Niekerk had done that. One of her most impressive, dazzling, milestone-breaching moments arrived half a decade earlier, and that too, in the pinnacle of the Women’s contests: the 2017 ODI World Cup in England.

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In July 2017, as the West Indies women strolled down the pitch on Grace Road, utterly unsuspecting of what was to come, one woman set the World Cup stage on fire. Her name - Dane van Niekerk. The exploits - a four-for without conceding a single run in 3.2 overs. Read that again and let that sink in! 

In removing nearly half the West Indies side on her own, a team comprising Matthews, Taylor, Dottin, and Knight, none of whom are mugs with the bat, Van Niekerk blazed a trail most can only dream of and perhaps only struggle to achieve. While many in the great game of cricket have taken four-fors, none barring the Proteas skipper has taken one that didn’t concede a run. 

It was the kind of spell you can only imagine happening for real on a PlayStation or in a dream scenario. What’s truly fantastic is that Dane van Niekerk, who’s just turned 29, has constantly been impressing with her high-arm right-arm leg-breaks for no fewer than thirteen years. 

In what has been a memorable journey for the Pretorian, the leg-spinning all-rounder became the first South African Women’s cricketer to take 100 ODI wickets, her current stack glowing at 138 scalps (107 ODI’s). But, what’s also disenchanting is that perhaps she’s not been the most successful where injury management is concerned in having to miss several essential series’ in the wake of slipping from one injury to another. 

During one of South Africa’s most morale-boosting away contests, the white ball tour to India in 2020, to be precise, it was Sune Luus who led the side to famous victories. Dane van Niekerk, along with usual vice-captain Chloe Tryon, was yet to recover from her back injury. It also led to an omission from the series against Pakistan, another widely-watched affair.

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Though truth be humbly submitted, Van Niekerk has already accumulated staggering feats in a career that is still very much growing and is anything but nearing the end. In 2013, when she was barely half a decade old in the sport, Van Niekerk took a hat trick on her way to a thrilling 5 for 28 off seven overs as she sapped the Windies women of all their energy in the opening ODI at Basseterre. She was just 19 then. 

Furthermore, if you were to consider the beginning of the 2009 season until the completion of 2021, then with just two ducks during this course of time, Dane van Niekerk sits third from the top on a list of batters with the fewest ducks in their career. But, the greats don’t become greats because of statistical amazement or bedazzling numbers alone; their impact lends itself to filling stadia wherever they play. 

Van Niekerk holds a league of her own because she genuinely epitomises the quintessential Protea fighting spirit. In a team where Chloe Tryon can bludgeon any attack, where du Preez can lend an air of caution and control amid pressure, and where Ismail’s seamers can ooze fire, Dan Van Niekerk can both subdue the best of attacks with her determined bat, besides cutting the heals of best batters with the prodigiously turning leg spinners. 

She’s a captain who doesn’t look for excuses in the face of defeat or facing the heat of the moment; she blames untoward results on herself. With over 200 white ball wickets (already) and over 4,000 runs which is when she’s yet to turn 30, the legend of Dane van Niekerk is growing bit by bit, spark after spark and fire after fire. And, be rest assured, it is here to stay!

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