Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, Lea Tahuhu, Amelia Kerr and others on New Zealand’s maiden World Cup title
ESPNcricinfo staff20-Oct-2024Suzie Bates: Just in shock really. We played with real pride and like, whatever happened today, I am so proud of the group that we have won the thing. It’s unbelievable. We knew South Africa were going to come hard when they got the opportunity with the bat, so we just wanted to take the game on. We did not expect us to get this far, so we just allowed ourselves to play with freedom and Georgia [Plimmer] and I knew it was important we started well, just to get through that powerplay. She has been outstanding all tournament, for such a young kid. She is a world champion at such a young age and she has batted so well and helped me down the other end. So look, everyone’s contributed, but here in particular with me opening, I couldn’t be prouder of the young girl.[On special moment with Sophie Devine] This means everything to us. We have played the sport for so long and when you play a team sport, you want to be a world champion and we have fought our way back to the top. We started with two final opportunities, but since then, it’s been pretty rare. She has been so outstanding leading this team so calm and believing in us. I think we’ll probably have a cuddle for even longer later because there has been some dark times that only us in that group and in that shed have been near for when we couldn’t get a win leading into this World Cup. We questioned ourselves as leaders, but we just kept backing up, so it’s really special. [Young players] They have been brilliant. Eden Carson, outstanding all tournament. Our spinners, even though Melie [Amelia Kerr] has been around for a while, she is so young, leading the spin attack with Fran Jonas. I will add myself for sneaking in one over. Like everyone contributed and it was a real team effort. It just makes you so satisfied as an athlete for it all to come together and this moment is something I will never forget.Amelia Kerr, Player of the Final and Player of the Tournament: I’m a little bit speechless and I’m just so stoked to get the win, considering what this team has been through. It’s what dreams are made of. I thought the wicket was pretty good but it slowed up a little bit and I thought that was probably not a bad thing with us bowling second. I kind of thought 140-plus in the final gets us in the game and the way Brooke [Halliday] came out and hit… it was an outstanding contribution from everyone and a lot of belief to finish the job.[On Halliday] Yeah, she took so much pressure off me. I was struggling out there a lot and was probably finding it a little bit hard to climb the ball. She just came out there and hit pockets and she did it in the semi-final and to do it again in the final is class, so it’s awesome to see.Amelia Kerr was the Player of the Final as well as the Player of the Tournament•ICC/Getty Images[On her cramps] It wasn’t too bad. I was cramping up while batting but afterwards in the field when I threw the ball I got cramped and found myself hiding in the ring at short third but just grateful that we got the job done. The first ball I bowled I cramped up and I thought I was not going to be able to bowl this fast today but I think the plans I have had this tournament and my run-in coming into play, especially here, helped me have a lot of success as well as the other spin group of our team have been outstanding in the bowling partnership.[On taking most wickets in a single edition] Bowling is what first got me in the White Ferns and it’s something that I’ve always wanted to keep getting better at. So to be able to pick up wickets and have the confidence to step up in big moments but I think I’ve said it all along throughout the last year, it’s the spin group we have, I’ve never enjoyed bowling so much, they make it so much fun and I’m just enjoying myself when I’m out there. It’s always better when you get the big players out. You want to be a big-match player and I guess bowling through those middle overs, it’s when the best batters are constructing their innings and if you can make a breakthrough, it can push teams back and that’s my job.Sophie Devine, New Zealand captain: Once I get my hands around their trophy, it will [sink in]. I started to let myself dream a little bit last night about what it would be like to hold that trophy up in front of that team. I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. It’s hard to put into words what it means, not just to me but for this group of players, for some of the players within this group, obviously Suze and Lea and for New Zealand cricket as well. It has been a long time between drinks. The great thing about this is we have known what we have been trying to achieve for probably the last 12, 18, 24 months and results haven’t gone our way, but we know that we’ve been building in the right direction. We’ve played the two best teams in the world for, I think, 14 or 15 games in a row. It was a pretty steep learning curve but we knew that we kept taking steps in the right direction and absolutely, you want momentum and things like that, but I think we have just rewritten them a little bit. We coming off ten losses in a row to come into a World Cup where we knew everyone starts back at zero and it’s anyone’s game and to be standing here now, it’s pretty special.[On Bates] It’s just outstanding. It speaks volumes of who Suze is as a player that she is now the most capped player in the history of the game in the woman’s side. It’s unbelievable to think that she can go out there and play with such aggression and such fearlessness. It set the time for the rest of the batting line-up. To have her in the side, everyone knows how special I find Suze and what she has been able to achieve. So stoked for her that we are able to lift it for her.[On Tahuhu] She is the sort of person that you want in your team because she is going to get in the fight and scrap for you. I knew if I threw the ball, she is going to make something happen and she did just that. It’s not always wickets and that’s the really important thing about this group. It’s not always who takes the wickets or the catches. It’s the work that goes behind it, the teamwork, working hard for your mate out in the middle and Lea was fantastic in how it changed the outcome of the game.The New Zealand players celebrate with the trophy•Getty Images[On Kerr] We all know that she is probably a once-in-a-generation player and what she was able to do tonight was incredible. Physically to be able to come out there and do what she did with the bat. Pretty sure she can’t feel her legs at the moment. Just shows such grit and resilience. She’s not a bad cricketer either, but the person that she is and how hard she works, how caring she is for this group. The world is her oyster and it’s scary to think how good she could be.Lea Tahuhu: Absolutely surreal. Just unbelievable so, so proud of this team and everything that we’ve we’ve achieved over this last 12 months and yeah, just put all the hard work into into a realisation. This team is so, so special. After that first game we thought that we could achieve something special and we are standing here right now.Ben Sawyer, head coach: We believed in a game plan – more importantly, they [the players] did, and they were able to execute it against one of the best teams in the world. We just spoke about their best was good enough. You need a little bit of that reassurance, so those four or five games that we were able to win just gives you that belief. We showed a little bit of a video today of all the good things that we have done in this series and that calmed everyone down. [On Bates, Devine, Tahuhu] It’s an absolute privilege to be involved with those three in particular. I’m just so happy for them that all the work they put in, they’re greats of the game and now they get to say they are world champions too.Georgia Plimmer: I’ve been thinking about it a lot this whole tour. To take me under her [Bates’] wings, she’s been incredible in the legacy that she’s done for not only New Zealand cricket but for the world cricket. She’s just an exceptional human and I’m so unbelievably grateful to be able to be out there with her. I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of a crowd that big and for them to be on the right as well. That just really added to the atmosphere and we didn’t really have to talk as much because the whole crowd was doing it in general.Rosemary Mair: Coming into the tournament, all the odds were against us. So for the group to bounce back, like they have in this tournament, it is just unbelievable. We have been through a lot of lows in the last 18 months and we have just stuck by each other and just kept working hard for each other. [On the senior players] They’re pretty old, having played the last final 14 years ago. To have them lead the side is just awesome and we’ve learnt so much from them. Couldn’t be prouder of those older girls.Isabella Gaze: It hasn’t sunk in, it’s incredible. [On Anneke Bosch’s nick] I just heard it pretty clear, was really confident and knew that Sophie backs my judgement. It was a good one. [On the turnaround] We’ve got so much belief in this team. We’ve come into this tournament, probably not on the best streak and have shown our skill and backed ourselves and look who we are. This is for them, this is their win I think we did it as a team and hopefully made them proud.