New Zealand beat South Africa to lift maiden Women's World Cup

Mohammad Abdullah, Senior Sports Reporter

Amelia Kerr took three wickets after scoring 43 runs as New Zealand defeated South Africa by 32 runs in the final of the ICC Women’s World Cup in Dubai on Sunday.

After posting a fighting total of 158/5, New Zealand restricted South Africa to 126/9 to lift the maiden World Cup trophy. Despite getting off to a blitzkrieg start, South Africa managed to live up to their reputation of choking in the big matches.

Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits gave a blazing start to South Africa in their pursuit of 158/5. Both the openers added 51 runs for the first wicket in just seven overs. They plundered the runs on their will and gave a strong platform for the chase.

Till the end of the powerplay, South Africa were in a better position as compared to New Zealand. They were 47/0 while New Zealand were 43/1. It looked as if it was going to be a cake walk for South Africa. But the complexion of the whole game was changed in just 18 deliveries.

Jonas gave New Zealand first breakthrough off the penultimate ball of the seventh over by getting rid of Brits. With the breakthrough, she also triggered a collapse, which rewrote the history of women cricket.

South Africa failed to capitalise on the blitzkrieg start as they kept on losing the wickets in bulk. Dismissal of Brits opened the floodgates for New Zealand bowlers.

Tahuha conceded only one run in the ninth over, which mounted the pressure on Anneke Bosch, who was the architect of their victory against Australia.

In the tenth over, Kerr sent back Wolvaardt and Bosch within a span of five runs and four deliveries, which pushed South Africa on the backfoot completely. South Africa were reduced to 64/3 from 51/0.

South Africa could never recover from there and kept on losing the wickets on regular intervals.  Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk fell cheaply as South Africa lost two more wickets in quick succession.

Chloe Tryon and Sune Luus added 20 runs to keep the chase alive briefly but they consumed too many deliveries which left too much to be done by the batters to come.

South African middle-order crumbled like a pack of cards under pressure and could manage to muster to 126/9.

Chloe Tryon celebrates the wicket of Brooke Halliday (L) during the Women's T20 World Cup final in Dubai on Sunday. A

Earlier, Suzie Bates and Kerr played sensible knocks to set the tone for a big total. After the dismissal of Plimmer, both the batters knuckled down to take the innings forward without more damage.

Both added a valuable 37 runs for the second after South Africa got the early success when Khaka got rid of Plimmer by getting her caught by Luus.

They kept the New Zealand bowlers at bay and kept the scoreboard ticking with singles and couples, hitting the occasional boundaries. Bates was the more brutal of the two as she hit a quick-fire 31-bal 32 with the help of three boundaries.

South African bowlers were not looking like a pale shadow of the team which defeated mighty Australia in the semifinals on the same ground three days ago.

Their bowlers were finding it difficult not only to take the wicket but also stop the flow of the runs as New Zealand looked set to post the highest total of the World Cup 2024 at one stage.

South Africa were looking for a breakthrough as the batters were growing in confidence. Spinner Mlaba gave South Africa the much-needed breakthrough by breaking the dangerous looking partnership.

Mlaba rattled the stumps of Bates to bring some respite to the South African camp. Soon after the dismissal of Bates, Klerk trapped skipper Sophie Devine to push New Zealand on the back foot briefly.

Two wickets in quick succession put a pause on the flow of runs for some times which gave South Africa a breather. The exit of Devine proved to be a blessing in disguise for New Zealand.

Brooke Halliday came to the crease and played a whirlwind knock. Her innings changed the landscape of the match. She shared a 57-run stand for the fourth wicket with Kerr to take the score to 127/3.

Halliday made her intentions clear right from the word go as she was dealing with boundaries. Her 28-ball 38 was studded with three hits to the fence, which spurred the run rate.

Halliday was taken by Bosch off the bowling of Troyn as New Zealand were reduced to 127/4. Kerr, who was playing a watchful innings, took the charge in hands after the dismissal of Halliday.

She changed the gears and pressed the throttle to accelerate the scoring as she knew a difference of a few runs in the end can prove to be decisive. Kerr smashed 43 off 28 deliveries as New Zealand posted a fighting total of 158/5. She holed out to Brits off Mlaba, who finished with a figure of 2/31.