By Ross Roche.
A bitterly disappointing performance from the Proteas women saw them slump to a heavy 32-run defeat against New Zealand in the final of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday night.
After enjoying a great tournament, highlighted by a brilliant win over Australia in the semifinals, while their only defeat came in a tight loss against England in the pool stage, the Proteas went into the final with plenty of confidence and momentum.
However they proceeded to put in arguably their poorest effort in all three departments, as they struggled with the ball and in the field as New Zealand amassed a big 158/5 batting first, followed by a very poor chase that saw them finish well short on 126/9.
New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr was the star performer for her team as she top scored with 43 off 38 balls (4×4), before picking up 3/24 with the ball, backed up well by Rosemary Mair who claimed 3/25.
At the start of the chase the Proteas got off to a good start as 10 runs each off Fran Jonas’s third and Lea Tahuhu’s fourth over and another 10 off Mair’s sixth took them to 47/0 by the end of the powerplay.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt, 33 off 27 balls (5×4) had been the aggressor while Tazmin Brits (17) was only managing a run-a-ball and that put pressure on her which led to her slogging Jonas straight to Maddie Green at long on in the seventh over, with the score 51/1.
The Proteas were still in a decent position, but arguably the turning point came in the ninth as Tahuhu bowled a brilliant over that went for just one, with five of those dot balls at Anneke Bosch (9).
That put the pressure on Wolvaardt to go for a boundary and she tried to hit Kerr over cover at the start of the 10th but only found Suzie Bates on the inner ring to deal a hammer blow to their chase.
That was compounded off the last ball as Bosch feathered an edge to keeper Isabella Gaze, with it initially not being given, and New Zealand successfully reviewing, leaving the Proteas in trouble on 64/3.
New Zealand effectively sealed the match with a quick double strike as Marizanne Kapp (8) swept Eden Carson to Georgia Plimmer at deep midwicket at the end of the 12th over, followed by Nadine de Klerk edging Mair to Kerr at backward point with the first ball of the 13th as they tumbled to 77/5.
Chloe Tryon (14) and Sune Luus (8) were basically the Proteas last hopes, and when Luus hit Brooke Halliday straight to Bates at extra cover at the start of the 15th, their chances evaporated as they fell to 97/6.
Annerie Dercksen (10) gave Kerr her third wicket, while Mair picked up two wickets in her final over as New Zealand sealed a commanding win in the end.
At the start of the match the Proteas won the toss and chose to bowl, but an average bowling and fielding display allowed New Zealand to set a big target.
The Proteas put down a few catches in the field and allowed a few balls through, while the bowlers conceded 15 extras, which included 10 wides and three no balls, which gave them a good boost at the end.
It was an exciting start to the innings as New Zealand showed their attacking intent early, with Plimmer (9) and Bates (32) hammering early boundaries, before Plimmer skied Ayabonga Khaka to Luus on the long on boundary with the score 20/1 after two overs.
Bates and Kerr continued the solid start by taking their side to 43/1 by the end of the powerplay, while bringing up the teams 50 in the next over.
The Proteas however pulled it back nicely as Nonkululeko Mlaba bowled Bates in the eighth over, and New Zealand reached the halfway mark on 70/2.
In the 11th over De Klerk trapped Sophie Devine (6) in front, with the umpire not giving it, but Wolvaardt reviewed and the decision was overturned as New Zealand slipped to 74/3.
Halliday, 38 off 28 (3×4) and Kerr took a few overs to rebuild, but in the 14th over Halliday finally unleashed as she hammered back-to-back boundaries off Luus with 12 off the over, while a boundary each from Halliday and Kerr off De Klerk’s 15th saw 13 runs off it as they also passed the hundred run mark.
Tryon finally broke the dangerous stand in the 18th over as Halliday pulled the ball straight to Bosch at deep backward square leg, with the score 127/4.
But New Zealand finished with a flourish as Kerr crunched back-to-back boundaries off Mlaba in the 19th, before being caught by Tazmin Brits at deep midwicket, with 11 still coming off the over.
Followed by Khaka’s final over going for 16 runs as Maddie Green (12no) launched a six over deep midwicket and was dropped off the last ball as they ran two to end with good momentum.
South Africa: Laura Wolvaardt (capt), Tazmin Brits, Marizanne Kapp, Anneke Bosch, Sune Luus, Chloe Tryon, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka
New Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (capt), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Lea Tahuhu, Rosemary Mair, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas.