Dubai [UAE], October 21 (ANI): New Zealand veteran Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine and Lea Tahuhu, the three “grandmas” of their team, finally got the crowning moment of their T20I career on Sunday as an all-round White Ferns side defeated South Africa by 32 runs to secure their maiden ICC Women’s T20 World Cup title.
NZ captain Devine had described the trio as “three grandmas”, and it was the veterans who finally got their moment on Sunday.
For 37-year-old Bates and 35-year-old skipper Devine, this was the third time lucky, with the long-serving pair both having played in their country’s previous two appearances in Women’s T20 World Cup finals, way back in 2009 and 2010, ending in losses to England and Australia.
Those defeats at Lord’s and in Bridgetown threatened to be the closest the pair came to World Cup glory, but Dubai 2024 has proved a fitting finale for two of the game’s greats.
Bates, who had bowled the crucial final over against West Indies in the semi-final, was at her belligerent best with the bat in the first innings against South Africa.
It was Bates (334 international matches) who got the ball rolling for her team in the final, showing her class on the day when she surpassed Mithali Raj (333 international appearances) as the most-capped player in the history of women’s international cricket.
Her 32 from 31 deliveries gave the White Ferns the perfect platform on which to build, which her teammates duly did to reach a winning total of 158/5.
“It is just outstanding, and just speaks to the volume of who Suzie is as a player,” Devine said of her teammate.
“She is now the most capped player in the history of the game on the woman’s side, and it is unbelievable to think that she can go out there and play with such aggression and such fearlessness. I think it set the tone for the rest of the batting lineup. I think everyone knows how special I find Suze and what she has been able to achieve. So, I am just so stoked for her that we are able to lift it for her,” she added,
Devine captained her side with aplomb throughout the tournament, even lightening the mood just moments before the final began by telling some jokes to relieve some tension – jokes that she later said “she was not sure she could repeat,”.
And while her own individual contribution with the bat in the final (6) was not her best, it was her simply brilliant 57* from 36 balls right back at the start of the tournament against India that had got her team off to the perfect start in their winning campaign.
“I started to dream last night about what it would feel like to hold the trophy with this team, but I did not want to get to ahead of us,” said Devine after the title win.
“The great thing about this group is we know what we have been trying to achieve in the last 15, 18, 24 months. We kept taking steps in the right direction. You want momentum and we came to the World Cup on the back of 10 successive losses, but everyone starts on zero,” she added.
The 34-year-old Tahuhu often flies under the radar compared to her two experienced teammates, but bowled tidily in the final once again, and has now moved up to 93 career wickets in T20 Internationals, second only to Devine for New Zealand and up with some of the legendary names of the sport.
“I have spoken about it at length before, Lea’s the sort of person that you want in your team, because you know that she is going to get in the fight, she is going to compete and scrap for you, and I knew if I threw her the ball, that she is going to make something happen. And she did just that,” said Devine.
“It is not always the person that takes the wickets or the catches. It is the work that goes on behind it, the teamwork. It is sort of working hard for your mate out in the middle there. And Leah was fantastic today, and helped change the outcome of the game I thought,” she concluded.
These three stars have plenty of memorable statistics and records to their name in women’s T20I cricket. Bates is the top run-getter in the format, with 4,584 runs in 171 matches at an average of 29.38 and a strike rate of 108.39, with a century and 28 fifties. Her best score is 124*. She has also taken 59 wickets with the best figures of 4/26.
Devine is the sixth-highest run-getter in women’s T20Is and White Ferns’ second-highest run-maker, scoring 3,391 runs in 143 matches and 139 innings at an average of 28.25, with a strike rate of 120.93. She has scored a century and 21 fifties, with the best score of 105. She has also taken 117 wickets with the best figures of 4/22.
Tahuhu is also an established veteran with 96 T20I appearances, in which she has taken 93 wickets at an average of 19.79, with the best figures of 4/6.
Coming to the match, SA won the toss and elected to field first. Bates played a crucial knock of 32 in 31 balls, with three fours at the top. After being reduced to 70/3, it was a 57-run stand between Amelia Kerr (43 in 38 balls, with four boundaries) and Brooke Halliday (38 in 28 balls, with three fours) that played a crucial role in NZ reaching 158/5 in their 20 overs.
Nonkululeko Mlaba (2/31) was the pick of the bowlers for White Ferns.
In the run-chase of 159 runs, despite a brisk start by skipper Laura Wolvaardt (33 in 27 balls, with five fours), SA and a 51-run stand with Tazmin Brits (17 in 18 balls, with one four), SA lost wickets quickly and never ever found their rhythm following dismissal of their openers. They were restricted to 126/9 in their 20 overs, with Kerr (3/24) and Rosemary Mair (3/25) shining the most with the ball for NZ.
Kerr was given the ‘Player of the Match’ award for her all-round show. (ANI)
