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New Zealand win first T20 World Cup with victory over South Africa
Women's T20 World Cup final, Dubai
New Zealand 158-5 (20 overs): Kerr 43 (38); Mlaba 2-31
South Africa 126-9 (20 overs): Wolvaardt 33 (27); Kerr 3-24, Mair 3-25
New Zealand won by 32 runs
Scorecard
New Zealand were crowned surprise champions of the Women's T20 World Cup with a comprehensive 32-run win over South Africa in Dubai.
The White Ferns had lost 10 successive matches coming into the tournament, and this is their first T20 title, after losing successive finals in 2009 and 2010.
They were on top at the halfway point, but the Proteas started strongly in pursuit of 159 for victory, reaching 51-0 inside seven overs before slipping to 77-5 and then stuttering to 126-9.
Leg-spinner Melie Kerr finished with 3-24, becoming the tournament's leading wicket-taker, and seamer Rosemary Mair took 3-25 in an emotional occasion for a team with so little expectation of triumph.
Kerr also added a vital contribution with the bat, scoring 43 from 38 balls in a crucial partnership of 57 with Brooke Halliday to set up the White Ferns' imposing 158-5.
In a fluctuating innings, New Zealand dominated the powerplay with 43-1 before South Africa fought back in the middle overs which included a spell of 48 balls without a boundary.
But Halliday's 38 from 28 balls, alongside Maddy Green's six-ball 12, ensured New Zealand struck 48 from the final five overs to punish an ultimately wasteful bowling performance from South Africa, who gifted 10 wides and three no-balls.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt scored a fluent 33 at the top of the order as South Africa also capitalised on the first six overs, reaching 47-0, before New Zealand's spin trio turned the screw, including the prized wicket of all-rounder Marizanne Kapp for just eight.
The rest of the batting order then succumbed to the growing run-rate pressure as opener Tazmin Brits' 17 was the second-highest score, with batters Anneke Bosch, Nadine de Klerk and Sune Luus all falling in single figures alongside Kapp.
It is the second year running that South Africa have lost the final as New Zealand put in a complete performance when it mattered the most which resulted in tears of joy for two of the sport's most experienced campaigners in Suzie Bates and captain Sophie Devine.
In the first year that the International Cricket Council (ICC) introduced equal prize money for it's men's and women's tournaments, New Zealand will take home $2.34 million (£1.75m) with South Africa taking $1.7m (£878,000).
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Wolvaardt is caught by Bates off the bowling of Kerr
In a tournament that has been dominated by low scores on bowler-friendly surfaces, it was New Zealand's batting intent from the beginning that was immediately eye-catching.
When opener Georgia Plimmer skipped down the pitch to Marizanne Kapp's second ball – despite missing – the message was clear. They were not going to die wondering.
Plimmer eventually fell for nine and Bates added 32, before Kerr and Devine were tasked with the rebuilding effort after a little wobble to 53-2.
But when Devine was lbw to De Klerk for six in the 11th over, there was a danger of New Zealand wasting their positive start, where they had played with such freedom and found the boundary regularly with little sign of any big-occasion nerves.
Kerr held firm, steadily rotating the strike at a run-a-ball while Halliday played more expansively around her, constantly pushing twos even when the boundaries were not flowing. This kept the pressure on South Africa's bowlers, who were struggling for consistency for the first time in the tournament.
After Halliday's departure, Kerr was rewarded for her patience as she thumped back-to-back boundaries off Nonkululeko Mlaba in the penultimate over, before Ayabonga Khaka's horror final over conceded 16 – including the game's only six from Green – to put New Zealand firmly in the driving seat.
The scoreboard pressure did the rest as South Africa wilted, unable to capitalise on Wolvaardt's knock, with Kerr taking her tournament tally to 15 – a new record in a Women's T20 World Cup, beating England's Anya Shrubsole and Australian Megan Schutt's previous record of 13.
New Zealand's elation was heartbreakingly juxtaposed by South Africa's despair, falling short at the final hurdle once more as the country's agonising wait for a global cricket title – men's or women's – continues.
Player of the match and tournament Melie Kerr: "I’m a little bit speechless to be honest. To get the win considering what we have been through, it’s what dreams are made of.
"I was cramping up in the field, but it didn’t stop me bowling. I just want to keep getting better, I have never enjoyed bowling so much. It’s always nice to get the big players out; you want to be a big-match player and make a breakthrough."
New Zealand captain Sophie Devine: "I started to let myself dream a little bit last night about what it would be like, I didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. It's hard to say what it means, not just for myself but for the other players, the team and for New Zealand cricket.
"The results coming into the tournament weren't great but we were moving in the right direction.
"Melie's a once in a generation player. What she was able to do tonight with the bat was incredible."
South Africa captain Laura Wolvaardt: "We had a quality opponent in New Zealand and didn't play our best cricket tonight.
"They really came at us hard in that powerplay, we maybe thought we could ride that wave but they put too much pressure on us with the bat."
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