T20 World Cup Final: South Africa, New Zealand set to enter new era of champions

The Women’s T20 World Cup is all set to witness a new winner as Sophie Devine’s New Zealand and Laura Wolvaardt’s South Africa will face each other in the summit clash on Super Sunday.

The Dubai International Stadium. Both teams will be brimming with confidence after knocking out former champions, Australia and West Indies, in the semi-finals. The White Ferns came into the mega event on the back of 10 losses on the trot in Women’s T20Is. Very few gave them a chance to even go past the group stage given their poor form. But once Devine and Co. took down Harmanpreet Kaur’s India by 58 runs in Dubai, they became unstoppable. On Friday, they thumped West Indies by eight runs in Sharjah.

Barring the game against Australia where their batting crumbled, New Zealand haven’t done much wrong. They also returned to the T20 World Cup final after finishing as the runners-up in 2009 and 2010. The men’s team lost the final in Dubai three years ago, but here lies another chance, this time for the White Ferns.

South Africa, on the other hand, suffered heartbreak in 2023 when Sune Luus’ women lost to Meg Lanning’s troopers. The men’s team also missed out earlier this year against India at the Kensington Oval. The Proteas came into the tournament as underdogs after beating Fatima Sana’s Pakistan 2-1 in the away T20I series.

But Wolvaardt has led them with dignity throughout. After beginning their campaign with a resounding 10-wicket win against West Indies, they also beat Bangladesh and Scotland in the group stage. But it was the semi-final that would have done their confidence a world of good.

Anneke Bosch’s unbeaten 74 powered them through to an eight-wicket win against Australia, who were looking for their fourth T20 World Cup title on the trot. It was also South Africa’s maiden win over the Aussies in the history of the tournament out of eight meetings.

Luus could not do it in 2023 and Aiden Markram failed as well in 2024. But Wolvaardt has a chance to lift the title. For New Zealand, they would want to give ‘captain’ Sophie Devine a happy farewell with glory on Sunday. Devine, earlier, said that she would step down as the White Ferns’ skipper after the championship.

South Africa vs New Zealand: Head-to-Head
New Zealand and South Africa have faced 16 times in Women’s T20Is since they first met back in 2007. The White Ferns have a massive lead of 11-4 over the Proteas. In the Women’s T20 World Cup, New Zealand are 3-2 ahead. In their previous meeting back on October 15, 2023, New Zealand beat South Africa by 11 runs in Benoni after Masabata Klaas picked up three wickets.

South Africa vs New Zealand: Predicted XIs
South Africa

Laura Wolvaardt (c), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Sune Luus, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta (wk), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka

New Zealand

Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze (wk), Rosemary Mair, Lea Tahuhu, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas

South Africa vs New Zealand: Prediction
The pitch in Dubai has favoured batters more than the one in Sharjah. Teams batting second have had quite a bit of advantage. It would not raise eyebrows if the chasing team ends up winning the grand finale.