The Proteas Women’s team dream of winning a first ICC T20 World Cup was left in tatters on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium.
New Zealand’s White Ferns totally outclassed Laura Wolvaardt’s team by 32 runs to be crowned T20 World Cup champions for the first time.
To compound the agony for the Proteas Women’s team, it was their second successive defeat in a T20 World Cup final after also losing to Australia in Cape Town less than 18 months ago.
It left senior players such as Marizanne Kapp overwhelmed with emotion as the tears flowed freely after the final.
New Zealand had set the Proteas a record target of 158-5 in a T20 World Cup final, but unfortunately their challenge fell away.
Wolvaardt had started the chase in positive fashion with a rapid 33 off 27 balls that set up a dominant power play, with the Proteas reaching 47 without loss. But when Wolvaardt fell shortly after losing her opening partner Tazmin Brits, the Kiwis turned the screw on the Proteas middle order.
All-rounder Amelia Kerr had earlier set up the game by top-scoring with 43 off 38 balls, and then completed a star all-round performance to claim figures of 3-24 as she ran through the Proteas’middle order.
Kerr topped the overall bowling charts with a record 15 wickets and also won the Player of the Tournament award along with the Player of the Match in the final.
The Kiwi edged Proteas star left-arm spinner Nonkuleko Mlaba, whose 2-31 in the final saw her finish in second place.
Wolvaardt finished the tournament as the leading run-scorer with 223 runs at an average of 44.60, ahead of her opening partner Brits (187), but this would be of little consolation as the Proteas were desperate to finally get over the line in an ICC World Cup final.
“We obviously had a really good semifinal. Focus was to reset, not get too ahead of ourselves. We knew we had a quality opponent in New Zealand to go up against,” Wolvaardt said.
“We didn’t play our best cricket tonight. They really came at us hard in the power play. At first we thought we could ride the wave a bit with a few wickets here and there. We were still backing ourselves at the halfway stage, but we’ll have to have a good reflection on what really happened. Still too fresh right now.”
Wolvaardt tried to keep her chin up by stating that the team enjoyed a good competition, having overcome six-time champions Australia for the first time in a World Cup, and have plenty to look forward to with an exciting crop of young players emerging.
“It is very exciting. We have some really experienced players like Marizanne Kapp, but also some high-quality youngsters on the bench as well who didn’t get an opportunity this World Cup,” she said.
“Really big thank you to our management. The work they put in behind the scenes isn’t noticed. The hours and hours they put in to get us ready to play is something we are really appreciative of and they don’t get the recognition for.”
Cape Times