22 October,2024 08:28 AM IST | Dubai | Santosh Suri
New Zealand players celebrate as skipper Sophie Devine lifts the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup trophy in Dubai on Sunday. Pic/Getty Images
The flightless Kiwis found their wings and flew away with the Women's T20 World Cup on Sunday night, leaving a crestfallen South Africa in their wake in the final. It was third time lucky for the White Ferns, who had lost the finals of the first two editions and had to wait 14 years to finally lay their hands on the trophy. Coming into the World Cup, New Zealand had lost 10 straight games in T20Is, and to achieve what they finally did, their skipper Sophie Devine called it "pretty special".
"Undoubtedly, the win against India [in our first game] put us on the right path. And though we had a poor game against the Aussies, we did well in most of our other matches. We had to fight hard against the West Indies [in the semis], and then it all came together in the final," she added.
It's apparent that the big win in their opening game against India acted as a tonic. Thereafter, under-pressure, India could not make it to the knockouts, while the White Ferns went about their business efficiently to end up on the champions' podium in front of 21,457 cheering fans.
It was especially memorable for the veteran Kiwi trio of skipper Devine, Suzie Bates and Lea Tahuhu, who finally have an ICC trophy that their glittering careers deserve. "It's hard to put into words what it means, not just to me, but for this group of players, especially Suze and Lea, and for New Zealand cricket as well. The great thing about this is we have known what we have been trying to achieve for probably the last 12, 18, 24 months and results haven't gone our way. But we know that we were building in the right direction. We played the two best teams in the world for, I think, 14 or 15 games in a row. It was a pretty steep learning curve, but we knew we kept taking steps in the right direction. Of course, you want momentum and things like that. But I think we have just rewritten them a little bit [by winning the cup after 10 losses going into the tournament].
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It may have been a hurray moment for the veteran trio, but the limelight was hogged by young Amelia Kerr, who was adjudged the Player of the Final as well as the Player of the Tournament. She was as efficient with the bat, as she was with the ball. The leg-spinner ended up as the highest wicket-taker with 15 from six games and contributed 135 runs at crucial times.
"We all know that she is probably a once-in-a-generation player and what she was able to do tonight was incredible. To be able to come out there and do what she did with the bat and then roll her arms over is amazing. Pretty sure she can't feel her legs at the moment. It just shows such grit and resilience. She's not a bad cricketer either, but the person that she is, how hard she works, how caring she is for this group, the world is her oyster and it's scary to think how good she could be", Devine said about the star performer.
The skipper added: "With players like Melie (Amelia), New Zealand cricket is in safe hands, and with this win a new generation of boys and girls will be inspired to play the game and take it forward."
