The flightless Kiwis found their wings and flew away with the Women’s T20 World Cup on Sunday night, leaving a crestfallen South Africa in their wake in the final. It was third time lucky for the White Ferns, who had lost the finals of the first two editions and had to wait 14 years to finally lay their hands on the trophy. Coming into the World Cup, New Zealand had lost 10 straight games in T20Is, and to achieve what they finally did, their skipper Sophie Devine called it “pretty special”.

“Undoubtedly, the win against India [in our first game] put us on the right path. And though we had a poor game against the Aussies, we did well in most of our other matches. We had to fight hard against the West Indies [in the semis], and then it all came together in the final,” she added.