DUBAI: "Well, all the odds are, they are in my favor
Something's bound to begin
It's gotta happen, happen sometime
Maybe this time, I'll win"
... sung Liza Minnelli in the debut motion picture named Cabaret, directed by Bob Fosse.
Her character, Sally Bowles, a Manic Pixie American Dream Girl living in 1931's Berlin, through this song has an air of "desperate hope" around it.
Entering the final, both South Africa and New Zealand were Ms Bowles. Desperate for the World Cup trophy that has eluded them since its inception. New Zealand, at least, have one ODI World Cup Trophy from back in 1999 when they defeated Australia in the final at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln.
Almost half of their squad for this World Cup was not even born then. South Africa has none. The 2023 T20 World Cup final was the first occasion where they even made it to the final. To say these two teams were desperate for glory was an understatement.
In the past, both teams have faced the brunt of peak Australia. New Zealand back in 2010 when they made it to the final only for Ellyse Perry's boot to squander their dreams off the last ball in the Caribbean. This is the first time they had made it to the final since 2010.
It was no different for South Africa in their first-ever final in front of the home crowd in 2023 when Beth Mooney's habitual performance with the bat came in the way of the trophy. So once they removed Australia from making it to the final, it felt like they had already punched way above their weight.
The desperation, well it was on display in the way these two teams were eager to start the game. At the time of the national anthems, emotions flowed and how. Marizanne Kapp, the head of the South African pace bowling unit or "Bomb Squad" as they are affectionately referred to, was in tears.
Sophie Devine, once her teammate at the Perth Scorchers in the Women's Big Bash League, and now the opposition captain was successful in controlling her tears, but a hug from her former captain after the anthems felt more meaningful than ever.
The match ebbed and flowed right from the get-go. The moment it felt like New Zealand were on top of the operations with their scoring rate, South Africa struck with wickets. If Kapp got hit for runs Ayabonga Khaka had her back as New Zealand took 43 runs in the powerplay.
Bates, who has worked as a sort of an anchor for Georgia Plimmer in the opening overs found her groove and did not stop going even when faced with some of the world-class bowling from the opponent. Nadine de Klerk's introduction did tilt the momentum towards South Africa as she got the wicket of Devine, but every coming Kiwi batter was walking in with the intent to make sure they get to a good total. Here, they made 158/5.
That has been the case with New Zealand in this World Cup, apart from their match against Australia, where they let their trans-Tasman rivals score close to 150, their bowling order, the mix of young and old has made their opponents pay with the tidy bowling. Exactly the same thing happened in the final under the lights when despite not losing a single wicket in the final powerplay of the World Cup they were always in the game. Amelie Kerr was the chief destroyer with the ball along with Rosemary Meir and they did cross the line by 32 runs in the end.
"Cause everybody, oh, they love a winner
So nobody loved me"
... said Sally later in the song. That is the one part of the song that nobody would agree with today. Even when South Africa fell short in the end, the game won. Even with two back-to-back heartbreaks in the final, South Africa will go home with all the love in the world.
Brief scores: NZ 158/5 in 20 ovs (Kerr 43, Halliday 38; Mlaba 2/31) bt SA 126/9 in 20 ovs (Wolvaardt 33; Mair 3/25; Kerr 3/24).