Kerr leads New Zealand to Women’s T20 World Cup triumph

New Zealand allrounder Amelia Kerr reached new heights with a superb performance with bat and ball that led her team to their first ever Women’s T20 World Cup title as they beat South Africa by a commanding 32 runs in Sunday’s final in Dubai.

Kerr, who was named Player of the Match and Player of the Tournament, top-scored with 43 as New Zealand posted an imposing 158-5 in their 20 overs.

The 24-year-old from Wellington then took 3-24, crucially picking up the key wickets of Laura Wolvaardt and Anneke Bosch, to restrict South Africa to 126 for nine in their 20 overs.

“We all know she is a once-in-a-generation player,” said New Zealand captain Sophie Devine.

“What she was able to do tonight was incredible. Physically to do what she did with the bat, I think she can’t feel her legs.

“She is not a bad cricketer but the person that she is, the world is her oyster.”

Victory marked a sweet finish to Devine’s own career. The win came 14 years after the White Ferns lost to Australia by just three runs in the 2010 final. They also lost to England in the 2009 championship match.

It also marks a remarkable change of form as they had lost 10 T20Is coming into the tournament. They had won just five of their previous 22 before their eye-catching win over India in their opening game.

“I started to dream last night about what it feels to hold the trophy with this team,” said Devine.

“The great thing about this group is we know what we have been trying to achieve in the last 15, 18, 24 months.

“We kept taking steps in right directions, you want momentum and we came to the World Cup on the back of 10 successive losses. But everyone starts on zero.”

For South Africa, who demolished six-time winners Australia in the semifinal, it made for a double disappointment having lost last year’s final to the Aussies in Cape Town.

“Our focus was just to reset, not get too ahead of ourselves,” said skipper Wolvaardt.

“We knew that we still had a really quality opponent in New Zealand to go and yeah, we just didn’t play our best cricket tonight.” – SuperSport

The post Kerr leads New Zealand to Women’s T20 World Cup triumph appeared first on H-Metro.