South Africa Women (Playing XI): Laura Wolvaardt(c), Tazmin Brits, Anneke Bosch, Chloe Tryon, Marizanne Kapp, Sune Luus, Nadine de Klerk, Annerie Dercksen, Sinalo Jafta(w), Nonkululeko Mlaba, Ayabonga Khaka

Devine: We were gonna have a bat anyway, so it has worked out well for both teams. Looks like a good surface and we want to put runs on the board in a final

Wolvaardt: We gonna have a bowl firts, it worked really well for us in the tournament and we are gonna stick to that. New venue, new opponents and new day, so we gotta work really hard. Same eleven.

South Africa Women have won the toss and have opted to field

Road to semis for New Zealand:
Beat India by 58 runs
Lost to Australia by 60 runs
Beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets
Beat Pakistan by 54 runs
Beat West Indies by 8 runs(in semis)

Road to semis for South Africa:
Beat WI by 10 wickets
Lost to England by 7 wickets
Beat Scotland by 80 runs
Beat Bangladesh by 7 wickets
Beat Australia by 8 wickets (in semis)

18th October: New Zealand had been here before. Indeed, the last time they made it to the semis (2016 in India), West Indies put a stop to their journey with a six-run win in Mumbai. New Zealand had 4 survivors from that game Sophie, Suzie and Lea Tahuhu and Leigh Kasperek. The Kiwis, however, had a much-better bowling crew this time around. Amelia Kerr, Eden Carson and Fran Jonas all combined to defend 129. With a Suzie Bates' (she was the skipper in 2016 edition) special at the end (with the ball) as if to add a cherry on the top. "The thing that makes me most proud as a leader is the reslience we've shown and the character we've had, not just in this tournament but the last 12-18 months. Results haven't gone our way and we've had a lot of stick from the outside but the belief in what this group is about, and what we're capable of doing has been there," Devine admitted.

At the halfway mark, Sri Lanka posted their highest score of the tournament (115/5), but they certainly weren't ready for what was to unravel during the chase. The 20-year-old Plimmer once again put her hand up, smacking a 44-ball 53 to help her side seal a much-needed win. Not once did it appear like a chase going after NRR. It was full of classic approach and application - respecting the good ones, using the feet against spin and running hard between the wickets. Plimmer's post-match reactions summed it up aptly. "It is a pretty special group that we got, we love each other outside cricket as well. Just the group is very clear on how we want to play and attack. World Cups don't come around all the time, so we are trying to put our best foot forward. We had a bit of a hard six months, so to come here and get a few wins under our belt gives loads of confidence," she concluded.

14th October:
The equation was pretty simple for New Zealand. Win and book your ticket to the semis. Opting to bat, all the Kiwis managed was 110/6 which looked well below par on the Dubai track. If there was ever a moment where Devine wanted her bowlers to step up in the tournament, that game would certainly top the list. And step up they did. Pakistan got bowled out inside 12 overs for 56 as all five New Zealand bowlers managed to claim their share in the wickets column. On this special occasion, Devine did look a little emotional. "Long time between the semis and I want them to enjoy it. Such an awesome experience. [for her young players] Big opportunity for them. Huge part of their careers. We would be looking to soak it up. It is going to be pressure. Going to be nerve-wracking. But these are the reasons why you play cricket. But hopefully we will lap it up. We will look to enjoy ourselves," she said.

At the halfway mark, Sri Lanka posted their highest score of the tournament (115/5), but they certainly weren't ready for what was to unravel during the chase. The 20-year old Plimmer once again put her hand up, smacking a 44-ball 53 to help her side seal a much-needed win. Not once did it appear like a chase going after NRR. It was full of classic approach and application - respecting the good ones, using the feet against spin and running hard between the wickets. Plimmer's post-match reactions summed it up aptly. "It is a pretty special group that we got, we love each other outside cricket as well. Just the group is very clear on how we want to play and attack. World Cups don't come around all the time, so we are trying to put our best foot forward. We had a bit of a hard six months, so to come here and get a few wins under our belt gives loads of confidence," she concluded.

12 October: After a heavy loss in the second game, and as India picked up 2 successive wins, New Zealand not only needed to win their last 2 but also had to keep a close eye on improving their NRR. Many skippers of this tournament, including Wolvaardt, admitted that they had the NRR in mind before or after the game. Not Devine though. "We haven't even actually thought about NRR, for us it is about following the process, take one game at a time and the results will take care of themselves," she said after being asked to bowl by Sri Lanka in Sharjah.

At the halfway mark, Sri Lanka posted their highest score of the tournament (115/5), but they certainly weren't ready for what was to unravel during the chase. The 20-year old Plimmer once again put her hand up, smacking a 44-ball 53 to help her side seal a much-needed win. Not once did it appear like a chase going after NRR. It was full of classic approach and application - respecting the good ones, using the feet against spin and running hard between the wickets. Plimmer's post-match reactions summed it up aptly. "It is a pretty special group that we got, we love each other outside cricket as well. Just the group is very clear on how we want to play and attack. World Cups don't come around all the time, so we are trying to put our best foot forward. We had a bit of a hard six months, so to come here and get a few wins under our belt gives loads of confidence," she concluded.

8th October: Spoke too soon? When New Zealand recorded a massive 58-run win against India, the 'permutation and combination'-meter had New Zealand as the second favorites alongside Australia to make it to the semis. But the high of Dubai evaporated a bit too quickly in the taxing humidity of Sharjah. Not only did they lose the toss, the White Ferns were made to look like minnows by the mighty Australian side. Having conceded 148, the highest score in Sharjah this tournament, New Zealand were blown away for 88 in 19.2 overs. Alas, the same old story many thought. Not for skipper Devine though. She was as confident as she was before their first game. "Disappointing night, but as we said after the first game we won't get too high when we win or too low when we lose. The wicket played a little better than what we thought it would, we knew what Australia would bring. We will take some key learnings from this. We will reflect and refocus before our next game against Sri Lanka," she said after the loss against Australia.

4th October: It was New Zealand's first assignment, against not-so-familiar opponents and arguably one of the favourites, India. Since 2020, New Zealand has played just 2 T20Is against India. While they won the one-off T20I against India (In Queenstown) in 2022, India won the World Cup group game in 2020 (In Melbourne).

Not a lot was going in favour of the Kiwis, The fact that they lost their last warm-up game (against England) two days earlier only aggravated matters. Or so they thought.

Probably, New Zealand needed a shade of luck somewhere. A spark. And it came in the form of the toss result. Skipper Sophie Devine looked like a skipper that had just won two world Cups, not a weeny single expression of her suggested that her team was under pressure. Opting to bat, Devine said "I've been really happy about the way the team's gone about its business. Results haven't gone our way but we're always learning. Looking to put our best foot forward in this one." 31 overs later, New Zealand didn't just put their best foot forward. They, in fact, stamped their arrival (read: revival) by putting India under the pump. Right from the shuffling movements of 20-year old opener Georgia Plimmer, and the late mid-wicket strikes from Devine, running twos as if their life were depended on it, and the loopy trap of Eden Carson, until the deceptive slower-ball marathon from Mair and Tahuhu, New Zealand never looked like a unit that lost ten in a row.

Not a lot was going in favour of the Kiwis, The fact that they lost their last warm-up game (against England) two days earlier only aggravated matters. Or so they thought.

4th October: It was New Zealand's first assignment, against not-so-familiar opponents and arguably one of the favourites, India. Since 2020, New Zealand has played just 2 T20Is against India. While they won the one-off T20I against India (In Queenstown) in 2022, India won the World Cup group game in 2020 (In Melbourne).

L L L L L L L L L L - Heading into the mega event, New Zealand's T20I report card was full of bruises. As if they needed a glitter bandage to highlight their wounds, they got blanked 3-0 by the forever-favourites Australia, just 10 days before they played their first game in the World Cup. Of their last 17 T20Is before the World Cup (13 games this year), New Zealand had won just two. TWO.

Let's start with South Africa, shall we. For a nation whose cricket teams have endured one heartbreak after another on the big stage, this is another big shot at their first piece of silverware in World Cups. They've been getting close these last couple of years, with both the men and women having made the final in the previous editions. South Africa, under Sune Luus, missed out against Australia in the final at Cape Town last year. But this time, they've vanquished the six-time winners in style. Captain Laura Wolvaardt is batting on another level and there's much to like about the team that has a lot of depth with both bat and ball. What was hugely impressive in that semifinal win was the freedom with which they approached the chase. The management backing the players, sticking with someone like Anneke Bosch who had come under fire earlier, can do wonders as Bosch went on to show in a proper beatdown of the Aussies.