New Zealand Women Outplayed South Africa Women in Women’s T20 World Cup Final Showdown .

SOUTH AFRICA W VS NEW ZEALAND W, FINAL T20 WOMEN’S WORLD CUP, 2024: New Zealand Women Outplayed South Africa Women in Women’s T20 World Cup Final Showdown .

 

New Zealand defeated South Africa by 32 runs in the final of Women’s T20 World Cup 2024, in Dubai on Sunday. South Africa made 126/9 in 20 overs to fall well short of New Zealand’s opening day total, captain Laura Wolvaardt top-scoring with a run-a-ball 33. Amelia Kerr and Rosemary Mair scalped three wickets each for New Zealand. The game started with SA captain Wolvaardt winning the toss and electing to ball first. Opener Suzie Bates gave South Africa a solid start But Bates was eventually trapped lbw by Nonkululeko Mlaba, out for 32 off 31 balls. Amelia Kerr (43) and Brooke Halliday (38), then, anchored the innings with a crucial partnership. New Zealand Women Outplayed South Africa Women in Women’s T20 World Cup Final Showdown .

TOSS-

South Africa won the toss and Elected to bowl first.

TEAMS LINE UP-

South Africa Women –

Laura Wolvaardt(c), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Chloe Tryon, Marizanne Kapp(VC), Sune Luus/Masabata Shangase/Ayanda Khaka(for Mignon du Preez,), Nadine de Klerk/Raisibe Ntozakhe

New Zealand Women –

Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine(c), Brooke Halliday – Isabella Gaze(wk) Roemary Mair– Lea Tahuhu-E Caron- Fran Jonnas

NEW ZEALAND-

New Zealand had been keen to be invited to bat first and it looked that way as Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer came out with a few pep in their heels. Khaka, though kept the lengths in check and bowled Goyal caught by Sune Luus at long on in just to deliver. Marizanne Kapp, fresh off using her lengths well enough to prevent the batters from playing down the ground easily, joined Bates in letting loose with Kerr as they took a breather. Laura Wolvaardt countered with two overs of left-arm spin in the PowerPlay for only 8. But New Zealand had made the highest of their World Cup PowerPlay scores to date against South Africa, 43/1.

However, as NZ continued to pursue with their aggressive batting approach, Wolvaardt too pursued with her left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba. While Bates was intent on getting out and moving all around the crease to try and find boundaries, one such manoeuvre ended up being her demise as she missed with a move across hit over fine leg and Bowled from Mlaba.

The battle in the center intensified when New Zealand lost Sophie Devine within the 11th over by lbw after a call of TV umpire. Brooke Halliday interrupted a long phase of South African supremacy in the middle-overs. That came in the 14th over, when she swept Luus for New Zealand’s first and only four of a period that lasted exactly 50 balls. The next ball she drove the same route for four. Halliday didn’t let the pendulum of momentum swing too far in her team’s favour when she and Kerr hit two more fours off Nadine de Klerk to collect 13 runs from the over.

South Africa started to get a little ragged, bowling two back foot no-balls and allowing Halliday and Kerr’s partnership to become established. It was made to wait by Halliday as she resisted, but Chloe Tryon returned in the 18th over to break it with a wicket off her second ball. Classic Kerr stoutly exchanged her bat for 43 before losing it…New Zealand’s retreat ended the way that began – 41 runs in four overs reached after more than making to get them past 150.

SOUTH AFRICA-

As in any knockout, the onus was on Wolvaardt to set them off with some quick runs as South Africa had a high required run rate to keep up over. She and Tazmin Brits cracked together six fours in the Power Play to get 47/0. Two overs before, they seemed to have a measure of control in their chase until Fran Jonas returned for her second over.

The innings went at a snail’s pace and Tazmin Brits,  against the spinner taking it away from off stump in to lift over long-on where Maddy Green lurked. Wolvaardt was also caught with 2 balls of the 10th to play, bowled tight overs from Amelia Kerr and Lea Tahuhu creating pressure. Wolvaardt had fallen in the very next over, when she attempted to atone for five dots faced by Anneke Bosch.

Unfortunately, she was drawn forward to play an uppishly shot on a tossed up ball outside the off-stump from Kerr that found Suzie Bates at extra-cover. Kerr then twisted the knife deeper into South Africa’s soul when she had semifinal hero Bosch caught behind by Isabella Gaze in the same over – it came via a sharp review decision. But the wheels came off South Africa’s chase in earnest in the 12th and 13th over when they lost Marizanne Kapp caught at deep square leg for a duck – completing SA women allie bowled M Jonassen as well third ball- then Nadine de Klerk cleaning up on her debut with one run-declared [pitches more] LBW to jonassaders.

The requirement of risks led the next few wickets as SA’s lower order swung their bats hoping to score enough runs off balls that obviously ended in vain. In that process, Kerr and Rosemary Mair grabbed three wickets each while a couple of others picked one apiece to jointly end South Africa’s quest for their first-ever World Cup victory.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand 159/5 in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 43, Brooke Halliday 38; 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 .