Player of the WBBL final Marizanne Kapp revealed that she didn't leave her hotel room for three days in the lead-up to the final after coming down with an illness following Perth Scorchers trip to Adelaide.
Kapp produced a phenomenal effort with both bat and ball scoring a critical 31 not out from 23 balls, including four boundaries, to help lift Scorchers to a competitive total of 5 for 146.
She then bowled superbly in the powerplay delivering a maiden over while bowling to her wife, Strikers opener Dane van Niekerk, and finished with match-winning figures of 1 for 25.
Kapp revealed she had passed a covid test in the lead-up to the game but was seriously concerned about her health.
"On Monday when we travelled back from Adelaide I already wasn't feeling too great," Kapp said. "I woke up the next morning and I was so sick, for the last three days I was so sick and I didn't move out of my room. I knew today was going to be really tough, especially with the heat as well. After the batting, I felt like I was going to pass out, I didn't feel well at all, but at the end of the day it was worth it."
Kapp was on her haunches after running twos while batting in oppressive 36-degree heat. Teammate Beth Mooney revealed Kapp had Facetimed into the team meeting the day before the game but she was conserving energy in order to be able to play.
"I started to show signs of feeling a bit better yesterday and this morning," Kapp said. "That's why I decided not to go and train this week because I knew it was going to set me back and I probably would've missed today. I knew it was going to be hard and luckily it was worth it."
The victory was bittersweet for Kapp. She had to deal with the emotional toll of having to play against her wife in the final. The pair had faced off twice earlier in the season with Kapp dismissing van Niekerk in both meetings. Kapp got the better of van Niekerk again in the final as they faced each other with both bat and ball. Van Niekerk bowled two balls to Kapp for two singles in Scorchers innings. Van Niekerk got off the mark with a leg glance off Kapp first ball in the chase but then faced a maiden from Kapp in the third over of the innings which stalled the Strikers momentum severely. Kapp beat the outside edge twice in the over and struck van Niekerk on the pad.
"It's never easy," Kapp said. "When I saw that wicket earlier, I knew with the new ball there was going to be something in it and it will probably get some movement. It's a tough wicket to get in on, and once you're in on it becomes a lot easier."
Kapp said she would not hold it over van Niekerk in any way after the victory.
"No definitely not," Kapp said. "I already feel so bad, because I feel like the Strikers were worthy of winning the cup as well, especially the two semi-finals they played, they were absolutely amazing."