New Zealand White Ferns split USD 2.3 million after winning World Cup

Members of the New Zealand White Ferns cricket team which beat South Africa by 32 runs in the final of the Womens T20 World Cup 2024 in Dubai on Sunday will split prize money of around USD 23 millionThat works out at around USD 155000 or NZD 256000 per team member a lifechanging windfall for players who for years have struggled for years to achieve financial parity with their male counterpartsNew Zealands firstever victory in the World Cup of crickets shortest format was a massive surprise The White Ferns had lost 10 consecutive T20 matches before beating South Africa in the Womens T20 World Cup 2024 warmup matchAlso ReadNew Zealands triumphant Grandmas revel in World Cup triumphThat pretournament success proved a turning point for New Zealand who beat India Sri Lanka and Pakistan losing only to Australia on the way to the semifinalsSouth Africa ousted sixtime champion Australia in a massive upset in the semi in which New Zealand beat the West IndiesNew Zealand made 1585 batting first in the final helped by Suzy Bates who made 32 Amelia Kerr who made 43 and Brooke Halliday who made 38 Kerr then took 324 and Rosemary Mair 325 as New Zealand restricted South Africa to 1269Pretty unbelievable to be honest Mair said Coming into the tournament all the odds were against us so for the group to bounce back like they have is unbelievableWe just care so much about each other Weve been through a lot of lows in the last 18 months and weve just stuck by each other and kept working hard for each otherAlso ReadNew Zealand revels in a golden 48 hours of sporting gloryCaptain Sophie Devine was leading the New Zealand team for the last time She and Bates have played in all nine T20 World Cups since the first in 2009 New Zealand reached the final of the first two tournaments in 2009 and 2010 losing to Australia on both occasionsThis means everything to us Bates said When you play team sport you want to be a world champion Weve fought our way back to the top Devie has been so outstanding leading this team so calm and believing in us Well probably have a cuddle for even longer later because theres been some dark times that only the people in the locker room understandNew Zealand was coached to victory by Australian Ben Sawyer and former Black Caps batters Dean Brownlie and Craig McMillanThe White Ferns success was praised Monday by New Zealand Sports Minister Chris Bishop It came at the end of a weekend in which New Zealand also retained sailings Americas Cup and in which the New Zealand mens cricket team beat India in a test in India for the first time in 36 yearsAnd then to round out a truly amazing sporting weekend at 3am Monday morning NZT the White Ferns led by Sophie Devine stepped up to face South Africa in the womens T20 World Cup final in Dubai and absolutely smashed it bringing home their first World Cup since the One Day International in 2000 Bishop saidAmelia Kerrs 43 runs off 38 balls and then taking 3 wickets for 24 set our team up for their magnificent performanceWith agency inputs