Courtesy: ICC
On Sunday, October 20, New Zealand won the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 title after defeating South Africa in the final by 32 runs at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. This was the third appearance in the Women’s T20 World Cup final for the White Ferns, and they have finally earned the right to call themselves champions of the world in the shortest format of the game.
After winning the toss, Laura Wolvaardt, the captain of South Africa, decided to field first, and they picked up the key wicket of Georgia Plimmer in the second over of the New Zealand innings. Suzie Bates, who was playing the 334th international match of her career, the most in women’s cricket history, focused on building the innings by knocking the ball around on a slowish surface, to reach 32 in 31 with the help of three fours.
Her partnership of 37 runs with Amelia Kerr allowed the White Ferns to set a platform to put up a decent score on the board despite losing their captain Sophie Devine cheaply. The 57-run stand for the fourth wicket between Brooke Halliday and Amelia Kerr, who top scored for the White Ferns with 43 off 38, including four fours, was crucial in reaching an above par total of 158/5 in their allotted overs.
Brooke Halliday got 38 off 28 with three fours, while for South Africa, Nonkululelo Mlaba took a couple of wickets, to halt the progress of New Zealand in the middle overs. In the run chase, South Africa got off to a flying start with their in-form openers Tazmin Brits and Laura Wolvaardt putting together a 51-run stand in 6.5 overs, to put them in a good position to chase down the target in the grand finale.
Shortly after both these two batters were back in the pavilion, especially Laura Wolvaardt, who scored 33 off 27 with five fours, the batting lineup of South Africa fell away, losing nine wickets for just 69 runs. Amelia Kerr delivered an exceptional spell of 3/24 in her four overs for the White Ferns, playing a massive role in restricting the South Africans to 126/9 in their allotted overs alongside Rosemary Mair, who took three wickets of her own as well.
