South Africa proved worth at Women's T20 World Cup

Nine-year-old Hazel Newton really wanted to see South Africa face mighty Australia in the T20 World Cup final.

Newton, a newly converted cricket fan who lives about a 20-minute walk away from the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town, convinced her father to travel to the ground the morning before the final to stand in a line to purchase three of the 3,000 extra tickets put on sale.

"This is the first time I have seen her show any interest in sports," her father, Daniel, told DW. "We don't watch sport often at home but it's nice to see her so excited. She asked me to buy her a cricket bat for her birthday!"

Hazel said watching fast bowler Shabnim Ismail send down an 80 mph (130 kph) delivery on television got her hooked.

"I want to learn to throw the ball that fast," she said. "The team are so cool. That game was so exciting."

Hazel and Daniel Newton were among a record sold-out crowd of 12,782 spectators who watched South Africa fall, 19 runs short to Australia, who won their sixth title and third consecutive. But the tournament, and the hosts' inspiring run to the final, was the dawn of a new beginning for women's cricket in the country.

Worst possible start

Although a bustling, vibrant Cape Town was filled to the brim at the height of summer, one hotel receptionist quipped on the morning of the start of the competition: "Football is the sport we love, not cricket."

So the hosts had their work cut out for them, not only to perform but to convince their countrymen and -women of their sport. After all, the South Africa tournament was following up a spectacular World Cup three years ago in Australia that saw 83,000 attend the final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

"We were hoping it wasn't going to be too embarrassing with empty stadiums," leg spin bowling all-rounder Sune Luus said. "Following up on the MCG in 2020, I think we just hoped there was a couple of people coming to the games."

Their pursuit nearly came off the rails before a white ball was bowled. Their longtime regular captain Dane van Niekerk, who has been capped 194 times and is considered one of South Africa's best all-rounders, was not selected after failing a pre-tournament fitness test by a mere 18 seconds.

The news, which came 10 days before the start of the World Cup, led to an outpouring of emotion. Although the spinner had not played for her country since 2021, she had been expected to make the side following her recovery from breaking her ankle.

Van Niekerk's wife, Marizanne Kapp, the team's front-line all-rounder, had to be permitted compassionate leave for the team's warmup game a day later. Emotions across the team continued to remain high as the World Cup kicked off, with Kapp seen in tears on the boundary edged just before the match begun.

South Africa then opened their tournament with a miserable three-run loss to Sri Lanka. Newlands was stunned into an uncomfortable silence, aside from the screams of the Sri Lankan contingent, with the loss coming against a country that the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) said in January had "no professional structures within women's cricket."

But the hosts quickly turned their fortunes around, winning big over New Zealand and Bangladesh to secure a spot in the knockout stage.

Momentum shift

Despite the team's struggles early on, crowd numbers were the one thing that proved not to a be a problem for the Momentum Proteas, as the South Africa cricket team is known. Their opening match against Sri Lanka drew a crowd of 8,402, then a record for a women's cricket match in South Africa.

Their semifinal match against England found competition to stay relevant amid the excitement for following day's first-ever ABB FIA Formula E World Championship race in the city. However, over the course of three hours, with the crowd trickling in after work, fervor and anticipation built against the backdrop of Table Mountain as South Africa fought towards a historic six-run victory.

Reaching the final was far more than just a sporting triumph. It was the catalyst the team needed to convince Cricket South Africa (CSA) that investment in women's cricket is necessary.

"I don't think we can do much more to show the country that we are serious about women's cricket," said Luus, the stand-in captain after van Niekerk's omission.

"If you don't take women's cricket seriously now, then I guess there's no hope," Luus said. "You have to get on the train of women's cricket."

Head coach Hilton Moreeng echoed his captain's thoughts. "If it does not motivate our mother body, then we have challenges," he said.

"But I think the penny has dropped now regarding where women's cricket is in the world and in the country, as well," he added.

Time for a women's cricket league

Unlike on the opening day of the tournament, South Africa's 19-run loss to the Southern Stars in the final was greeted by a chorus of cheers from the record crowd.

Luus said investment in domestic women's cricket was the only way to make South Africa consistently competitive against the far-more-advanced countries.

"We've done our best to give the girls in the country the best possible chance," she said. "We've been asking for a very long time for an SA domestic league. I know it's budget-constrained, and there's always limited resources and all those things."

Luus pointed to the fact the top nations in women's cricket, Australia, England and India, all now have professional leagues — England has the Women's Cricket Super League, Australia the Women's Big Bash League, and Women's Premier League is set to debut this month in India.

"That's why they're so good and why they have that depth, because they have leagues where overseas players come and play, and you get used to playing with them and against them," Luus said.

"We've given our girls the best chance we could have," Luus said, "and it's up to CSA and everyone involved to give our young girls their best shot of making a career from cricket."

Edited by: Davis VanOpdorp