World champions White Ferns to split $2.3 million prize money

Wellington: Members of the New Zealand White Ferns who beat South Africa by 32 runs in the final of the women's Twenty20 World Cup in Dubai on Sunday will split prize money of around $2.3 million.

That works out at around $155,000 or NZD 256,000 per team member, a life-changing windfall for players who for years have struggled for years to achieve financial parity with their male counterparts.

New Zealand's first-ever victory in the World Cup of cricket's shortest format was a massive surprise. The White Ferns had lost 10 consecutive T20 matches before beating South Africa in a warm-up match.

That pre-tournament success proved a turning point for New Zealand who beat India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan, losing only to Australia on the way to the semifinals.

South Africa ousted six-time champions Australia in a massive upset in the semis, while New Zealand beat the West Indies.

New Zealand made 158/5, batting first in the final, helped by Suzy Bates (32), Amelia Kerr (43) and Brooke Halliday (38). Kerr then took 3/24 and Rosemary Mair 3/25 as New Zealand restricted South Africa to 126/9.

"Pretty 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 unbelievable.

"We just care so much about each other. We've been through a lot of lows in the last 18 months, and we've just stuck by each other and kept working hard for each other."

Captain 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 occasions.

"This means everything to us," Bates said. "When you play team sport, you want to be a world champion.

"We've fought our way back to the top. (Devie) has been so outstanding leading this team... so calm and believing in us. We'll probably have a cuddle for even longer later because there's been some dark times that only the people in the (locker room) understand."

New Zealand were coached by Australian Ben Sawyer and former Black Caps batters Dean Brownlie and Craig McMillan.

The 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 sailing's America's Cup and in which the New Zealand men's cricket team beat India in a Test in India for the first time in 36 years.

"And then to round out a truly amazing sporting weekend, at 3 am Monday morning (NZT) the White Ferns, led by Sophie Devine, stepped up to face South Africa in the women's T20 World Cup final in Dubai and absolutely smashed it, bringing home their first World Cup since the One-Day International in 2000," Bishop said.