NZW vs WIW: Women's T20 World Cup To Get New Champion, New Zealand To Face South Africa In Final

New Zealand stormed into the final of the Women's T20 World Cup 2024 after beating West Indies by 8 runs at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.

Sharjah (UAE): New Zealand emerged triumphant in a low-scoring thriller semi-final against West Indies by eight runs and stormed into the final of the ongoing Women's T20 World Cup 2024 at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Friday, October 19, 2024.

The White Ferns will now face the formidable challenge from the side which is coming into the title clash on the back of a historic victory over mighty Australian side, South Africa, in the highly awaited final. The tournament will see a new winner in this edition as both New Zealand and South Africa have never won any of the ODI and T20 World Cup and will be eager to clinch the title for the first time.

It took a lot of time for the New Zealand women's cricket team to find a way to reach the finals of the T20 World Cup as they sailed to the summit clash for the first time after 14 years. Notably, they finished as the runners-up in the 2009 and 2010 editions.

The Sophie Devine-led side came into the World Cup on the back of 10 consecutive defeats, but once they tasted success against India, they were unstoppable. Apart from the defeat against Australia, their performance has been exceptional despite their batting struggles in the last couple of games, but their bowling has been fantastic, having won back-to-back close games against Pakistan and now West Indies.

For the West Indies, they topped the points table in group B and kept alive their dreams of repeating their 2016 heroics. All-rounder Deandra Dottin tried her heart out, both with bat and ball, but her efforts went in vain.

The Caribbean side managed 120/8 in 20 overs in chase of 128, courtesy of off-spinner Carson (3/29) and leg-spinner Amelia Kerr (2/14), who ripped apart the 2016 champions' batting top-order. The duo accounted for 20 opposition wickets (Carson's 8 and Kerr's 12) in the tournament and were lethal weapons for New Zealand in the entire tournament.

Fittingly, it was Beijing Olympian Suzie Bates, which was her 333rd international match, the joint-most with former Indian skipper Mithali Raj, bowled the final over with 15 needed and gave away only seven runs to seal the issue.

Earlier, Dottin bowled both conventional and wide yorkers with a lot of precision to end up with 4/22. With most of the deliveries holding up, it became easier for Dottin to vary the pace making life difficult for opposition batters.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 128/9; 20 overs (Georgia Plimmer 33; Deandra Dottin 4/22) beat West Indies 120/8; 20 overs (Dottin 33; Eden Carson 3/29) by eight runs.