
Final – New Zealand v South Africa
Dubai International Stadium, 20 October
New Zealand 158/5 (20.0) beat South Africa 126/9 (20.0) by 32 runs
video scorecard | video highlights
1 – After a 32 run victory against South Africa in Dubai, New Zealand women claimed their first T20 World Cup title. The White Ferns became the fourth different team to lift the trophy across nine editions of the tournament, after England (2009), Australia (2010-14 and 2018-23) and West Indies (2016).
2000 – New Zealand’s only previous cricket World Cup win in any format was in hosting the 2000 edition of the Women’s ODI World Cup.
158 – New Zealand’s total was the second highest made in a Women’s T20 World Cup final:
- 184/4 Australia v India at Melbourne, 2020
- 158/5 New Zealand v South Africa at Dubai, 2024
- 156/6 Australia v South Africa, Cape Town, 2023
- 149/2 West Indies v Australia at Eden Gardens, 2016
7.17 rpo – New Zealand’s aggressive approach early on saw them reach 43/1 in the powerplay. This was the most that South Africa had conceded during this phase in the tournament. The Proteas had gone at less than a run a ball during the powerplay in all five of their previous games until the final.
43 & 3/24 – Player of the match, Melie Kerr made the highest score and took the best bowling figures in the game. In doing so, Kerr became the first player to both score 40+ runs and take three or more wickets in a T20 World Cup knock-out match.
15 – Kerr’s wickets saw her become the highest wicket-taker at a single edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup. South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba (4-0-31-2) finished with the fourth most on the same list:
- 15 Melie Kerr (NZ) in 2024 (6 innings)
- 13 Anya Shrubsole (ENG) in 2014 (6 innings)
- 13 Megan Schutt (AUS) in 2020 (6 innings)
- 12 Nonkululeko Mlaba (SA) in 2024 (6 innings)
Mlaba also became the sixth South African woman to take fifty career wickets in T20Is.
The most wickets taken by a spin bowler before Kerr and Mlaba’s efforts at this edition had been eleven for England’s Sophie Ecclestone in 2023.
135 & 15 – Kerr was also named a resounding player of the tournament. Kerr is the only player to have scored 125+ runs and taken ten or more wickets at a single edition of the event.
38 – Brooke Halliday’s innings was her T20I career best, and the highest score made by any woman batting at #5 or lower in a T20 World Cup final.
57 – Kerr and Halliday’s partnership was New Zealand women’s highest 4th wicket stand in T20Is against South Africa, beating the 56 made by Haidee Tiffen and Aimee Watkins in the first meeting between the sides in the format, at Taunton in 2007.
334 – Suzie Bates’ appearance in the final made her the highest capped player in the history of women’s international cricket:
- 334 Suzie Bates NZ (0 Tests, 163 ODIs, 171 T20Is)
- 333 Mithali Raj IND (12 Test, 232 ODIs, 89 T20Is)
- 322 Ellyse Perry AUS (13 Tests, 147 ODIs, 162 T20Is)
- 316 Harmanpreet Kaur IND (6 Tests, 133 ODIs, 177 T20Is)
- 309 Charlotte Edwards ENG (23 Tests, 191 ODIs, 95 T20Is)
32 & ct3 – Bates became the the second New Zealand women’s player to both score 30+ runs and take three catches in a T20I. The first was Sophie Devine, in the White Ferns’ opening group stage match at this World Cup, against India at Dubai.
37 – Bates, Devine and Lea Tahuhu became the three oldest players the lift the Women’s T20 World Cup trophy:
- 37y 34d Suzie Bates (NZ) v SA, 2024
- 35y 49d Sophie Devine (NZ) v SA, 2024
- 34y 27d Lea Tahuhu (NZ) v SA, 2024
The previous oldest had been England’s Claire Taylor (33y 269d), during the inaugural edition in 2009.
3 – Rosemary Mair’s figures (3-0-25-3) were the second best of her T20I career, beaten only by the 4-0-19-4 she took against India in the opening game at Dubai. Mair had never taken more than two wickets in a T20I innings before this World Cup.
Mair’s ten wickets in the tournament were the most taken by a New Zealand women’s pace bowler at a T20 World Cup, beating the nine of Nicola Browne in 2010 and Devine in 2016.
13.28 – New Zealand’s bowling strike rate of 13.28 runs per wicket was the best by any team in the tournament, and their average of 8.3 wickets taken per innings was the fourth best by any bowling side at a single edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup.
32nd – Maddy Green (12*) hit the only six in the match, and also became the first woman to win a cricket World Cup in either format on their birthday.
223 – For the second edition in succession, South Africa’s Laura Wolvaardt finished as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.
43.30 – Wolvaardt’s World Cup batting average is the highest by any woman to have played ten or more career innings at the event.
62.90 – Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits have shared the second most 50+ stands at Women’s T20 World Cups (6), and their average partnership of 62.90 is the highest by any pair to have batted five or more times together at World Cups.
21,457 – The attendance in Dubai was the second highest for a Women’s T20 World Cup final, and was enormous credit to the organisers, who had to relocate the tournament at short notice from Bangladesh to the UAE. The figure also demonstrated the potential audience available to cricket when taking major events to Associate nations.
- 86,174 – Australia v India at the MCG, 2020
- 21,457 – New Zealand v South Africa at Dubai, 2024
- 12,782 – South Africa v Australia at Cape Town, 2023
- 12,717 – England v New Zealand at Lord’s, 2009 (double-header with men’s final)
Stats derived from ESPNcricinfo statsguru.