Zaahier Adams
“To be brutally honest, it was really disappointing that we kept our worst performance for the final.”
That was Proteas’ women’s captain Laura Wolvaardt’s frank assessment of their 32-run defeat to New Zealand in last night’s ICC T20 World Cup final in Dubai.
This was no choke. No meltdown. Just an old-fashioned defeat to a team that was better under in every aspect. And therein lies the disappointment for the Proteas, who had been so good against in their semi-final victory over six-time champions Australia.
Each player will know that they did not best put their best foot forward on the night. Perhaps after playing in front of empty stadia for the majority of the tournament, the near sell-out crowd of 25 000 that came out to support the final and created a cacophony of noise inside the colosseum-like venue caught the Proteas unawares.
But that is simply no excuse for not executing the basics. Delivering 10 wides and three no balls is inexcusable at this level, which stemmed their ability to put New Zealand under any form of pressure in their batting innings.
In contrast, New Zealand showed their experience, with Suzie Bates (170), Amelia Kerr (84) and Brooke Halliday (40) sharing a sum total of 294 T20 International caps along with outgoing captain Sophie Devine’s 143.
Bates dropped anchor with 31 (32 balls; 3x4), knowing Kerr (43 off 38 balls, 4x4) and Halliday (38 off 28 balls, 3x4) could provide the firepower from the other end. The 57-run partnership between Kerr and Halliday during the middle period particularly hurt the Proteas, as it set up the onslaught at the end.
“They came out with real intent and that caught us on the backfoot. We thought we could ride it out, but they also had a really good last five overs where they really pushed the run-rate,” Wolvaardt said.
Wolvaardt also admitted that losing last night to the Black Caps will be harder to overcome than their defeat to Australia at Newlands last year.
“Obviously, last year we were just really excited to be in the final and really enjoyed the opportunity.
“But this year … this one is going to hurt for me. After the cricket we played in the semi, I really thought we would have it in the bag if we played a game of a similar nature. So, to play one of our worst games is really disappointing.”
This left the Proteas needing to achieve a record-breaking run-chase in a T20 Women’s Cup final. Truth be told, they were never really ever close to achieving the feat.
Dependent, probably overdependent, on Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits for a vibrant start, the opening pair attacked the powerplay in a bid to bite chunks of the 159-run target.
Wolvaardt seemed to have the bit between her teeth as she flooded the leg-side with a couple of early boundaries to power the Proteas to 47/0 when the fielding restrictions drew to a close. But with the pitch slowing down, and New Zealand’s spinners starting to make a bigger impact, the runs started drying up, leading to Brits (17) holing out in the deep to Fran Jones.
But it was left to Player of the Tournament Amelia Kerr to drive the dagger through the Proteas’ hearts when she had Wolvaardt (33 off 27 balls, 5x4) caught in the covers.
From there on it became a procession, with not even all-rounder Kapp able to make an impact with the bat as Kerr took control of proceedings to finish with the excellent figures of 3/24. Rosemary Mair provided solid support with 3/25.
The Proteas were once again left with plenty to ponder about what they could have done better. Unfortunately, on the night it was plenty as they simply did not pitch up when it mattered most, with a plethora of basic errors leaving their dream in tatters.