Women's T20 World Cup: New Zealand win title as Melie Kerr stars with bat and ball to comfortably beat South Africa
By Oli Gent
Published 20/10/2024 at 19:06 GMT+1
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New Zealand lifted their first ever T20 World Cup title after a 32-run victory over South Africa at Dubai International Stadium. Sophie Devine's side posted a tally of 158-5, while almost skittling the Proteas, who notched 126-9. The White Ferns arrived in the Middle East on a 10-game losing streak, but put that to an abrupt end in some style with a maiden world title.
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New Zealand became T20 world champions for the first time with a 32-run win over South Africa in Dubai.
The White Ferns, who were on a 10-match losing streak upon arriving in the Middle East, conjured up a superb performance at Dubai International Stadium, posting 158 runs and dropping just five wickets.
The Proteas, however, struggled in their chase, only able to tally 126, with Melie Kerr and Rosemary Mair both taking three wickets each for the Kiwis.
They sunk the South Africans to a second straight T20 World Cup final defeat, after they were beaten by Australia in Cape Town last year.
Kerr, third in the New Zealand order, was the pick of the champions’ batters, notching 43 from 38 balls before she was dismissed by Nonkululeko Mlaba.
Suzie Bates and Brooke Halliday both ably assisted with 32 and 38 scores, respectively. Leg-spinner Kerr also became the leading wicket-taker for this year's World Cup.
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Mlaba was the pick of the South African bowlers with two of the five wickets, but she was not helped by her teammates’ batting efforts in the chase, with captain Laura Wolvaardt’s 33 the highest total they chalked up.
"We've got so much belief in this team,” Izzy Gaze, the Kiwi wicket-keeper, said afterwards.
“We came into this tournament not on the best streak, but we showed our skill and backed ourselves and here we are.
"This is for [the veteran players]; we did it as a team and hopefully we did them proud."
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New Zealand are two-time losing finalists in this competition, falling at the final hurdle in 2009 and 2010, but they made no mistake at the third time of asking, authoritatively claiming their first title after a stunning tournament.
"It's unbelievable, coming in, all the odds were against us, to win is unbelievable," Muir said.
"The batters put on a pretty fantastic total for us, they had a great start in powerplay.
"We just care so much about each other, we've been through a lot of lows and just stuck by each other and kept working hard with each other.
"It's amazing for Suzie and Sophie. They're pretty old, to have them lead this side is awesome, we've learnt so much from them."
Bates added: "This tournament, things have gone our way. We've played with real pride. Whatever happened I was going to be proud, to win is incredible.
"We knew South Africa were going to come out hard, no one expected us to get this far so we allowed ourselves to play with freedom.
"Georgia helped us so much, she's so young. Everyone contributed but her in particular because she was helping me open.
"This means everything to me and Sophie. We've played team sport for so long. When you play team sport you want to win.
"The team has been brilliant, the youngsters, our spinners, even me for a minute there, everyone was contributing, a real team effort. It makes you so satisfied as an athlete."
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