It was the clinical bowling by Amelia Kerr and Rosemary Mair which helped New Zealand beat South Africa by 32 runs to lift their maiden title in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Stadium here on Sunday. Kerr and Mair picked three wickets each to restrict the Proteas to 126/9 in the second innings after New Zealand had posted a challenging 158/5 after they were asked to bat first in the final.
The New Zealand women laid aside the bitter memories of the heartbreaks of their previous T20 World Cup finals as they eventually triumphed in their third trip to the finals. The Proteas, on their part, suffered loss in the final for the second successive year after being defeated by Australia in the 2023 Women's T20 WC.
Asked to bat first, Amelia Kerr, Brooke Halliday, and Suzi Bates did quite well to help New Zealand post 158/5 in 20 overs. Georgia Plimmer and Bates got off to a good start but Plimmer's attempted six off Marizanne Kapp was caught by Sune Luus. Bates didn't take too long either as she bowled to the bowling of Nonkululeko Mlaba. It was captain Sophie Devine who went back to the pavilion for six after an unlikely review by Nadine de Klerk.
The South Africa bowlers tightened the screws, without any boundaries between overs 5.4 and 13.5. Halliday (38) broke the shackles, raised a 57-run stand with Kerr before being caught by Anneke Bosch. Kerr hit back-to-back boundaries before falling in the penultimate over to Nonkululeko Mlaba, the only bowler to take multiple wickets. Maddy Green's late six helped New Zealand set a 159-run target for SA.
Skipper Laura Wolvaardt, 33, and Tazmin Brits, 17, the two highest scorers of the edition, were facing the mammoth task before them in pressure-cooker situations. It was hardly surprising that with such pressure, they got South Africa off to an excellent start.
The powerplay fetched 47 runs for the team and seemed to be building on from where it started quite fantastically till Tazmin was dismissed by Fran Jonas in the very next over. In attempts to help her skipper continue the onslaught, Tazmin attempted to go big but a miscue of her shot saw Green take a simple catch at long on which rejuvenated the New Zealand side.
Loss of the wicket brought control back to the Kiwis as they mounted heavy pressure against the team in the following overs where the required run rate touched nine an over. The lone run by New Zealand was scored in the ninth over, where the team put five dot balls together, prompting Wolvaardt to try and take pressure off herself on the first ball of the over. It was in her attempt to tackle Kerr that caught the South Africa skipper at extra cover, with Suzie taking the easy catch.
It triggered a mini-collapse soon after the dismissal of the skipper as life sprang into the New Zealand bowling attack. Kerr replied by bowling leg-spinner Anneline Nortjé and she had Anneke Bosch (9) caught on the last ball of the same over in which Wolvaardt was dismissed when she missed an attempt to sweep the ball which resulted in a loud appeal that was rejected by the umpire. It turned out that the ball did nick Bosch as the South Africans saw the back of their third wicket.
Soon, this was followed by a mini collapse when Marizanne Kapp (8), Nadine de Klerk (6) and Sune Luus (8) fell in quick succession.
That tally for most wickets in one edition of the women's T20 World Cup remained Kerr's come the end of the night. Back for the scalp of Annerie Dercksen to add further to this historic campaign, the game slipped further out of South Africa's grasp with every passing over. Mair struck twice in the penultimate over, before Carson wrapped up the victory for New Zealand.
The Proteas suffered heartbreak for the second time in a row this time going down by 32 runs.
Brief Scores:
New Zealand 158/5 in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 43, Brooke Halliday 38, Suzie Bates 32; Nonkululeko Mlaba 2-31) beat South Africa 126/9 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 33; Amelia Kerr 3-24, Rosemary Mair 3-25) by 32 runs.
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