White Ferns win World Cup title in style

By Cameron McMillan

The White Ferns are on top of the world.

The New Zealand women’s side claimed their maiden Twenty20 World Cup title with a 32-run victory over South Africa in Dubai this morning.

The White Ferns came into the tournament having lost 10 straight matches and found form at the right time to win their first World Cup title since victory in the 50-over format in 2000.

It was third time’s a charm for New Zealand after losing in their two previous trips to the Twenty20 final in 2009 and 2010.

Batting first, New Zealand made an impressive 158 for five. Opener Suzie Bates (32 from 31) set the tone early before a crucial 57-run partnership in the middle overs between Amelia Kerr (43 from 38) and Brooke Halliday (38 from 28). Maddy Green added 12 off the final over to get New Zealand to a formidable total.

South Africa looked in the chase early with openers Laura Wolvaardt (33) and Tazmin Brits (17), the two top run-scorers in the tournament, putting on 51 for the first wicket.

But the New Zealand spinners took control in the middle overs. Kerr, Fran Jonas and Eden Carson all took top order wickets to leave South Africa facing a daunting task at 96 for five needing 63 from the final 30 balls. Tight bowling and steady hands in the field from the White Ferns didn’t give them a look-in.

Kerr was brilliant in a player of the match performance, finishing with 3-24 despite suffering through cramp following her 73-minute stay at the crease which helped set up the big total. She was also named player of the tournament.

Pace bowler Rosemary Mair took late wickets to finish with 3-25 as South Africa finished on 126 for nine.

The White Ferns finished second in Group A behind three-time defending champions Australia who were knocked out in the semifinals by South Africa. New Zealand booked their first final spot in 2010 with a tight eight-run win over the West Indies after having to beat Pakistan in their final group match to qualify for the knockout stage.

What’s astonishing is that New Zealand didn’t have to beat either Australia or England to win the title, but that’s World Cups. But that’s the beauty of knockout tournaments.

“Pretty unbelievable to be honest,” Mair told Sky Sport. “Coming into the tournament all the odds were against us so for the group to bounce back like the group have in this tournament is just unbelievable.

“We’ve been through a lot of lows in the last 18 months and we’ve just stuck by each other and just kept working hard for each other so it’s great.”

Bates and skipper Sophie Devine both played in the previous finals defeats to England at Lord’s in 2009 and to Australia the following year when Devine almost led New Zealand in a final over loss in the West Indies.

Nearing the end of two great careers for their country, it seems fitting they finally can be called world champions.

“In shock really. This tournament, little things have gone our way and we’ve played with real pride. Whatever happened today I was so proud of the group and to think we’ve won the thing, it’s just unbelievable,” Bates told Sky Sport.

“This means everything to us. We’ve played team sport for so long. When you play team sport you want to be a world champion and we’ve fought our way back to the top. We started with a few final opportunities but since then it’s been pretty rare. She’s [Devine] been so outstanding leading this team. So calm and believing in us....there have been some dark times that only us in that group and in that shed have only been there for when we couldn’t get a win leading into this World Cup. We questioned ourselves as leaders but Ben [coach Ben Sawyer] kept backing us so it’s really special.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission