South Africa suffer heartbreak in final again

For the second time this year, South Africa suffered heartbreak in the final of an ICC T20 World Cup, this time the women's team falling short against first-time champions New Zealand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the UAE yesterday.

Unlike the men's team, which lost to India by a whisker in June, the South Africa women's team were completely outplayed by the White Ferns, losing by 32 runs in what turned out to be a one-sided final.

New Zealand, who had come into the tournament on the back of 11 defeats in white-ball cricket, were not considered amongst the favourites but under the leadership of veteran all-rounder Sophie Devine, they went all the way.

"I let myself dream last night about what it would be like to hold the trophy. Didn't want to get too far ahead of myself. Hard to put into words what it means," Devine said after the final.

This was a chance at redemption for the South African women's team, having lost the final of the 2023 edition to Australia at home, but once again they faltered at the last hurdle.

"We obviously had a really good semifinal. Focus was to reset. Not get too ahead of ourselves. Knew we had a quality opponent in New Zealand to go up against. Didn't play our best cricket tonight," said South Africa skipper Laura Wolvaardt.

New Zealand's Amelia Kerr was the star performer of the final, first making a 38-ball 43 which helped them post 158-5 and then taking three for 24 with her leg-spin to help restrict South Africa to 126-9.

Kerr, who finished as the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 15 scalps, took the decisive wicket of the match when she dismissed Wolvaardt (33 off 27 balls), after which South Africa never looked in contention.

"I'm a little bit speechless and I'm just so stoked to get the win, considering what this team's been through. It's what dreams are made of," said Kerr, who was named both player of the final and the player of the tournament.

The tournament was originally supposed to take place in Bangladesh but was shifted to the UAE at the last minute due to security concerns.