Proteas ‘outplayed’ in Women’s T20 World Cup final
Proteas captain Laura Wolvaardt admitted on Sunday that they were outplayed by New Zealand in the Women’s T20 World Cup final in Dubai.
The White Ferns won by 32 runs, inflicting a second successive defeat in a final on South Africa.
New Zealand posted 158 for five in their 20 overs with Amelia Kerr top-scoring with 43.
In reply, the Proteas were restricted to 126 for nine. Wolvaardt says they did not play their best cricket against a quality opponent.
"Our focus was just to reset, not get too ahead of ourselves.
"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."
For New Zealand captain Sophie Devine, the victory marked a sweet finish to her 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 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 the right direction, you want momentum, and we came to the World Cup on the back of 10 successive losses. But everyone starts on zero."
