9:45pm And....breathe. A semi-final full of ebbs and flows, eventually ending up in New Zealand's favour. We may have more of the same on Sunday in the title clash, or we may not. But what is certain is that there will be a new champion, and Sunday, truth be told, cannot come soon enough. We hope to have your company day after, and we hope you enjoyed our coverage tonight. From Ranjith and myself, it is goodbye, and see you all on Sunday!

Sophie Devine, New Zealand captain: (On making the final) It has not sunk in at all. Still trying to get my brain back from being fried out there. Really privileged to be playing in a World Cup final. The last 2-3 overs saved our bacon. The way Izzie (Gaze) batted…we thought 130 would be a competitive total. We knew we were in with a great shout. With the ball, taking wickets regularly always helps. But when you have players like Hayley and Deandra (in the opposition), the game is never over. She (Dottin) is a quality player. You can set the field for her but she can just hit it over the top. We put down a couple of chances and had we taken them, it might have been easier. Credit to West Indies. We always knew it was going to be a tough game and huge respect to them. (On Bates bowling the last over) Halliday was supposed to get the ball as well. She (Bates) has been harping on us in training that she has been practicing for this. With just three fielders out, that is pretty clutch and to finish things off, it was cool for Suzie to do it. The thing that makes me proud is the character we have had for the last 12-18 months. Results have not gone our way, we have gotten a fair bit of stick from people on the outside. Really excited about this last match and we have nothing to lose, and that is a great space to be. We will celebrate this tonight, and we gotta win this (tournament) now (smiles). They (South Africa) are an incredible side. Laura leads them from the front, Kapp is one of the best players in the world. Bosch in the game against Australia (was superb)…but we have to focus on ourselves, and hope the cricketing gods are on our side as well (in the final).

Hayley Matthews, West Indies captain: We bowled really well upfront and had them under a good run-rate. Got away a bit towards the end. At the beginning of the day, we would have taken that (score). With the bat, we could not get going early on and that put pressure (on us). We felt they were a few short (on that wicket). We wanted to stay positive but obviously, we never got going. It never really got out of her hands or super out of control and that showed when Deandra smacked a few over mid-wicket. Unfortunately, she got out after that but kudos to her (for her performance with the ball) and she gave us a chance with the bat as well. Disappointing to go out at this stage in the way we did but incredibly proud of the team. As a group, we have come together and exceeded expectations. Disappointed we are going home but we came in with not a lot of expectation of us going far but we proved a lot of people wrong.

Avinash: "Should not forget Gaze's innings, that helped with backend to have a decent total to defend for NZ" -- Bates mentioned it just after the first innings ended and in hindsight, that knock looks even better, given the sheer weight of her runs...

Hypocaust: "That was Suzie Bates' first wicket at a T20 World Cup since 2016." -- And Sudarshanan tells me it was her first time bowling in a T20I since March 2024. No pressure...

Shadow-Shell: "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are having a new champion this year"

Here is what Eden Carson, Player of the Match, has to say in her post-match interview, which, like the other day, ends with a squeal of delight and excitement: A bit emotional but really proud of the girls. When Deandra Dottin was pummelling us (around), the girls believed (that they could get over the line). We really had to defend another low total. Tried to get early wickets against them, and to get early wickets against them really helped us. We saw how they bowled, bowled a bit more back-of-a-length.

9:25pm New Zealand were not supposed to get this far. They were supposed to have so many unanswered questions. But each time a problem was posed, each time a quandary surfaced, they found the answer, and they found the answer in such fashion that it feels they were meant to be here all along.

The sun, in most parts of New Zealand, may just be rising or may have just risen, and their cricket folk will feel this is a new dawn for their women's team. And tonight, they played like a team that believed this is the start of something special.

They only had 128 on the board, yet, they found a way. Kerr, as it is almost always, was the pick of their bowlers, picking up two massive wickets and giving away just 13 runs. Carson, the find of their tournament, bagged three, with Bates, Jonas and Tahuhu also among the wickets. Mair, who finished wicket-less, produced a tidy four-over spell that went for just 16 runs.

And now, to the West Indies. They were right in it. They were right in it when the World Boss was dominating like only she can. But unfortunately for them, on the big day, there was no one to support Dottin and that proved critical in the end, especially with an asking rate that was climbing all the time. They will feel gutted but once the dust has settled, they will be aware of what they have achieved, and they will be much richer for this experience in years to come.