Category: Cricket

Yesterday the final of the Women’s T20 World Cup took place, with the contending sides being New Zealand and South Africa. This post looks back at the match.

THE PRELIMINARIES

South Africa won the toss and chose to bowl first. New Zealand would undoubtedly have chosen to bat first anyway – they had done well doing so in this tournament – so both sides were happy with things at this stage. Neither side made any changes to their sides that had won the semi-finals, which meant that Suzannah Wilson Bates, aka Suzie Bates, became the most capped female international cricketer ever, winning her 334th cap across formats (sadly, due to NZ unwillingness to play test cricket, a format they last appeared in in 2004, across formats in her case means ODIs and T20s).

THE NEW ZEALAND INNINGS

New Zealand have been notable (as indeed have South Africa) for bucking the usual trend in this tournament of batting cautiously. They had South Africa’s splendid chase against Australia in that semi-final as a reminder of what might happen if they failed to put up a decent total. The started excellently, enjoying the best Power Play that any side had had against South Africa all tournament long. Bates set the tone for New Zealand, scoring off most of the deliveries she received. Once the Bates/ Plimmer opening stand was broken with the score at 16, Amelia Kerr joined the fray, and made good use of her speed between the wickets. At 53 in the eighth over Bates was dismissed, and when skipper Devine was out for 6 to make it 70-3 just past the halfway mark. Brooke Halliday now joined Kerr, and they, helped by some South African indiscipline with the ball (the Proteas sent down too many wides and no-balls) upped the tempo very effectively. Halliday was the chief scorer in a fourth wicket stand that raised 57 runs in seven overs, scoring a T20I best of 38 from 28 balls (how’s that for rising to a big occasion?). The tempo increased further in the last 16 balls of the innings. Kerr was dismissed for 43 off 38 balls with the score at 141. Maddy Green and Isabella Gaze, the Kiwi keeper, scored 17 together off the last seven balls of the innings, helped by some less than stellar South African fielding (the two they scored off the last ball of the innings for example were more or less a gift). New Zealand’s total of 158-5 looked useful. For the record South Africa bowled three no balls and ten wides or to put it another way, 2.1 overs worth of extra deliveries.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN REPLY

Wolvaardt and Brits started extremely brightly, ending the Power Play still together and with 47 runs on the board, putting them just up with the required rate. There had been a brief worry for New Zealand when Kerr did not take the field at the start of the innings, but she was on by the second over. Left arm spinner Fran Jonas got Brits with the penultimate ball of the seventh over to make it 51-1. It was the tenth over, bowled by Kerr with her leg spin, that first swung things New Zealand’s way. With the first ball thereof Kerr had Wolvaardt caught by Bates, to become the leading wicket taker of the tournament outright (she had been tied with South African left arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba on 12 wickets until that point). With the sixth ball of that same over, she found the edge of Anneke Bosch’s bat and Gaze took the catch behind the stumps. This was initially given not out, but sent upstairs, and Ultra Edge fairly speedily revealed a tell tale spike. This wicket made Kerr the all time leading wicket taker at any single edition of this tournament. That was 64-3, and a huge psychological blow given that Bosch had been the star of South Africa’s semi-final triumph. Marizanne Kapp and Nadine de Klerk cobbled together a stand of 13, but then both fell in rapid succession. First Kapp was caught by Plimmer off Eden Carson, the off spinner whose delighted laughter in post match interviews had become a feature of the tournament. Then Rosemary Mair, the tall seamer who had taken four-for in New Zealand’s first game of the tournament, had de Klerk caught by Kerr. In the the space of two balls, the last of the 12th over and the first of the 13th, 77-3 had become 77-5. Chloe Tryon (a noted six hitter but not in great form) and Sune Luus were now together. They added 20, but South Africa were by then falling alarmingly far behind the required rate. For the 16th over Devine played a wild card – she tossed the ball to the rarely used Halliday. Halliday’s first delivery was a ghastly wide, the second was also not a great ball, but Halliday and Devine’s luck was in – Luus succeeded only in sending it into the hands of Bates at cover and that was 97-6, and 62 needed off 29 balls. Annerie Dercksen, like Tryon a noted big hitter, and with some recent form behind her, came to the crease with miracles required. Dercksen made it into double figures, though not terribly spectacularly. The 18th over was the last of Kerr’s four overs, and off the third ball of it Dercksen hit a catch to Bates, and the third time of the innings the veteran’s hands proved safe to make it 111-7. Kerr’s last three balls were uneventful, and she finished with 4-0-24-3 to set alongside her 43 with the bat and a catch. No one had ever previously combined 40+ runs and 3+ wickets in a knockout match at women’s T20 world cup. The 19th over was given to Rosemary Mair, her fourth and last. Chloe Tryon went for a big hit off the first ball of it, as dictated by circumstances, but was well caught by Maddy Green. That was 117-8, 42 needed off 11 balls. Sinalo Jafta and Nonkululeko Mlaba added three runs together before the fifth ball of the same over, a beauty, got through Jafta’s defences and hit her stumps to make it 120-9. Mair finished with 4-0-25-3, and 38 were needed off the final over. With all pressure now removed it was Carson to bowl. South Africa avoided being all out, but only six runs accrued from that final over, giving New Zealand a win by 32 runs. Player of the Match was straightforward, since Kerr had both the highest individual score of the game and the best bowling figures of the game. With 135 runs and 15 wickets across the tournament Kerr was also the proverbial shoo-in for Player of the Tournament. South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt, who had impressed leading her side in the field and was the tournament’s leading run scorer was probably the least distant challenger to Kerr. For New Zealand skipper Devine this was a laying of an old ghost – on the last ball of the 2010 final Ellyse Perry’s boot stopped a fiercely struck shot from Devine that had it reached the boundary would have taken the match to a super over. It was also a remarkable turn around for New Zealand from a few months ago, when they toured England, and if anyone then had predicted that they would be lifting a world cup a few months later most followers of the game would have had a good laugh at the would-be Nostradamus’ expense. South Africa’s wait to lift the ultimate prize goes on, but they too deserve immense credit for the way they played this tournament. Scorecard here.

PHOTOGRAPHS

My usual sign off…