Key events
2nd over: New Zealand 20-1 (Bates 7, Kerr 4) Bates get in on the act, swiping Khaka to the midwicket boundary. Plimmer falls –good strong catch from Luus 0 but Kerr comes in and immediately is on the attack too, pulling four from her first ball. This is A PLAN.
WICKET! Plimmer c Luus b Khaka (New Zealand 16-1)
Plimmer goes big one too many times and Luus is waiting…can she hold on? The seconds still, but she does, to South African sprinting delight.
1st over: New Zealand 9-0 (Bates 1, Plimmer 8): My my! Young Plimmer has the bit between her teeth – aggressive from the first ball, a boundary from the fourth as Plimmer hauls Kapp to the rope., four more as she lays into a shorter ball, swivels and pulls with gumption.
The players are out, Marizanne Kapp has ball in hand, here we go!
This is Devine’s last match as New Zealand’s T20 captain, and Suzie Bates today overtakes Mithali Raj to become the most capped player in women’s international cricket.
Here come the umpires, here come the teams for the anthems, hand in hand with the children mascots. The Kiwis are in fine voice tonight and Sophie Devine grins wolfishly at the end.
Now South Africa’s turn, hands across their chests, with the best anthem in cricket.
New Zealand XI
New Zealand XI: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Lea Tahuhu, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas
Unchanged from the semi-final.
South African XI
South Africa XI: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Sune Luus, Annerie Dercksen, Nadine de Klerk, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka.
Unchanged all tournament.
“It feels to me like a chasing ground,” says Nasser. It’s growing dark, it’s over 30 degrees and the seats are filling up…
Ninety-seven chances have gone down in this competition. Why. Why???? Mel Jones has been asking. “Some people say it is about the lights, some about the pressure. I think we have to go back to basics over the next four year cycle in catching and fielding.”
New Zealand wanted to bat anyway – and they too keep the same side from the semi-final. Sophie Devine says that she has exchanged messages with the men’s team over in India, who just won for the first time in India for over 36 years.
South Africa win the toss and will field!
Laura Wolvaardt: “I think it has worked really well for us throughout the tournament. I think we have batting resource we haven’t even used yet, though I hope the top order can do the job.”
South Africa keep the same side.
And this is a super read on where South Africa and New Zealand sit (as well as the now knocked out West Indies.)
I love this from Suzie Bates:
“We’re the grandmas of this team, still standing. Leah [Tahuhu] with her bionic knees, Sophie having dealt with a lot of stuff as captain, and me keeping on going – it’s really a special moment. There have been tough times, we have been through ups and downs, but that we have made the final is special. We look after each other.”
Preamble
Hello! This is it. A T20 World Cup final – but not just any T20 World Cup Final. A T20 World Cup final without Australia, without England, without India – for the first time in the history of the women’s T20 competition.
But, as big as the news has been about England and India’s underwhelming performances, (see Raf Nicholson here):
And Australia’s shock defeat (see Megan Maurice here):
The real news is the rise of New Zealand and South Africa. Both surprise finalists, both on the rise from the “middle group” of women’s cricket teams – who have seemed so far away from the big three. But not so now.
Sophie Devine’s New Zealand started the tournament after a disastrous year of results. Their rebuilding phase had not brought any tangible benefits, and Devine worried to women’s cricket podcast “Powerplay” that young girls were gravitating towards netball or rugby union instead. But once they hit the tournament, everything started to come together, with the tournament’s leading wicket taker Amelia Kerr the shining light.
South Africa, who knocked out England to reach the final in the last competition have been hovering on the edge of the big time, “Two finals in two years, we must be doing something right” in the words of Laura Wolvaardt. Their strength has been that batting – topped by Anneke Bosch’s incredible 74 not out against Australia.
By this evening will be a new name on the trophy. Play starts at 3pm BST. Join us to see history made.
