Big picture: A shot at history

Some pictures speak more than words can convey.

Like Siya Kolisi looking skywards and roaring into the Parisian sky, before lifting last year's Rugby World Cup.

Like Grant Elliott, a South African by heritage, offering a hand to a crestfallen Dale Steyn after hitting the winning six to seal New Zealand's final at the 2015 ODI World Cup.

Like Katy Perry joining Meg Lanning's victorious Australian team on the winners' podium in front of a record 86,174 fans at the MCG in 2020.

Or, more recently, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma - standing side by side, like brothers in arms, with the Indian flag, their medals and the World Cup trophy, before walking into the sunset.

On Sunday, South Africa and New Zealand will go toe to toe to earn the right to add to the iconic images and moments of the sport, for which one works hard for years, or decades in the case of Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, and Marizanne Kapp.

New Zealand have a shot at glory after 14 years, South Africa their second in two years, having vanquished Australia, the team that broke their hearts on a sparkling Cape Town afternoon last February.

Their journeys to the World Cup final have been somewhat similar. Filled with stunning wins that warmed the hearts. And losses that questioned - with a transition looming - the pathway structures that haven't exactly been able to replicate the benchmarks set by Australia and England. Which is why their appearance in the summit clash holds out hope for the women's game and the sport's expansion.

Dubai has a massive significance for both teams. South Africa lifted their only ever silverware - senior or junior - at a World Cup here in 2014 under Aiden Markram's captaincy. For New Zealand, this was the epicentre of their most recent finals heartbreak at the men's T20 World Cup in 2021.

Irrespective of what happens in the grand finale on Sunday, the women's T20 World Cup winner will have a new winner.

Form guide

New Zealand WWWLW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
South Africa WWWLW

In the spotlight: Sophie Devine and Anneke Bosch

Team news: Not many changes expected

There is little indication that both teams will greatly change with their XIs from the semi-final. South Africa have remained unchanged all tournament.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Georgia Plimmer, 2 Suzie Bates, 3 Amelia Kerr, 4 Sophie Devine (capt), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze (wk), 8 Rosemary Mair, 9 Lea Tahuhu, 10 Eden Carson, 11 Fran Jonas

South Africa (probable): 1 Laura Wolvaardt (capt), 2 Tazmin Brits, 3 Anneke Bosch, 4 Chloe Tryon, 5 Marizanne Kapp, 6 Sune Luus, 6 Annerie Dercksen, 8 Nadine de Klerk, 9 Sinao Jafta (wk), 10 Nonkululeko Mlaba, 11 Ayabonga Khaka

Pitch and conditions: Spin to win

The build-up to the last two major ICC finals was dominated by chatter around the pitch and conditions. In Ahmedabad, at last year's 50-over World Cup, you didn't know until a day before the final which surface was going to be used. In Barbados, this June, rain had been predicted all day with the threat of a hurricane - which eventually delayed India's departure - loomed. There is less drama this time around.

Pitches in Dubai have taken turn, and taking the pace off has been a ploy captains have often stuck by. Pakistan exploited this quite superbly against New Zealand. India realised the perils of playing three seamers when they conceded 160 in their opening game against New Zealand.

The absence of dew has been a reason why spin has been effective. Dew had reduced the toss to a lottery at the 2021 Men's T20 World Cup in the UAE, but its effect has been minimal this time. While temperatures have considerably dropped in the last two weeks, it will still test players' fitness, especially because evenings continue to be muggy.

Stats and trivia

Quotes

"Playing that final, we put ourselves behind the eight ball. In such games, you have to be at 200%, and stay calm. We kind of got flustered, we do get flustered at times. But throughout this tournament, we have been calm and clear about how we want to go about things. It shows the growth of this team."
Allrounder Chloe Tryon on how South Africa have changed from last year's final

"We're the grandmas of this team, still standing. Leah [Tahuhu] with her bionic knees, Sophie having dealt with a lot of stuff as captain, and me keeping on going - it's really a special moment. There have been tough times, we have been through ups and downs, but that we have made the final is special. We look after each other."
Suzie Bates on New Zealand's old guard having another crack at glory

Calling the century "special," Iyer said: "Coming back after a very long time, obviously I was feeling a bit down with my injuries, but now getting a century after a very long time, it's a great feeling.

"I am absolutely keen for a [Test] comeback but yeah, as we say, control the controllables and my job is to keep performing and keep participating as much as possible and also see with that my body is in best shape. So I'll take the best decision possible according to that."

"Not anymore," he said. "But there was this phase where I was feeling that it might occur again. But yeah, I trained a lot to see to it that I have optimum fitness and obviously it comes here and there, but now my capacity has improved a lot."

And how did he get his body there?

"Training. Yeah, obviously I improved my long-distance running and that's what I wanted to. You know, increase my patience as well in terms of the longer format and according to that I was training. [I did] intensive training like I was stressing up my body, like pushing my body 400-800 meters of running and I was trying to push my limits and seeing to it that I was at the best fitness possible.

[Earlier], even when I would sit for long, stand for long, the back would get stiff automatically and yeah, basically that's what I wanted to improve on."

Did the fitness issues and how he thought "nobody was agreeing," create an inaccurate perception about him for Test cricket?

"See, I had addressed my feeling during the longer format and things didn't go my way," he said, implying that he was willing to put it behind him. "But I've also addressed it in the previous interviews I've given and I'm in a good space right now. I'm doing what I'm meant to do, that is training and playing matches consistently and I feel that all the matches I've played right now in the past have helped me gain that fitness level as well, along with my training."

Playing his sixth first-class match in a row in the last six weeks, Iyer said, "The body has taken a lot of load at the same time. So we have to manage here and there and see to it that I strategise in terms of how I play. Now I have to be smart in terms of what decisions I take, I need to see to it that my body is in the best shape possible. As I mentioned previously as well, I have to decide according to that, no matter whatever people think outside. I have to listen to my body because I know the amount of threshold carried over the last few years and based on that, I'll be taking the right decision, and I hope that my team will also back [that]."

"Nowadays when the teams come up, they straightaway put a defensive field right from ball one," he said. "So I was just trying to take some time, in between trying to play more balls than scoring shots, so that was my plan. Play session by session and try to see how much my body can take. When I said that I played a few matches in the past, that was the reason where I got to know that I can smash every ball, but at the same time I have to bat longer if I want my body to be ready for any situation provided by the opposition. And yeah, we faced many challenges in the past.

After the game against Maharashtra, Iyer will play three more league games Mumbai are slotted to play this year before the Ranji Trophy season will be paused for the 50-over and 20-over white-ball tournaments. It might be a little far-fetched to say that Iyer will be a strong contender for the Australia tour, having not been named in the India A squad for the two red-ball games starting October 31.

Does Iyer feel he has had a mixed bag of chocolates this year?

"You win three championships in a year, and what else can you ask for? All I see is the positive things over here and that is winning the trophy and that's what I want."

"Overall, for me, I've been pretty streaky, pretty hot and cold with the ball," O'Rourke said at the end of the fourth day. "Pant and Sarfaraz [Khan] obviously batted very well for a long time there, but that second new ball came on and started doing a little bit for us.

"So, credit to Timmy [Tim Southee] for getting that first breakthrough [of Sarfaraz] and then I was lucky enough to get a wee chop on there [from Pant] to give us a bit of momentum going through."

Sarfaraz, in particular, handled O'Rourke well, picking him for 39 runs in 35 balls and repeatedly throwing him off his lengths with ramps and late cuts. While O'Rourke said he and the rest of the bowling unit could have been tighter with their lengths, he credited Sarfaraz for using the angles and opening up the field.

"He [Sarfaraz] played me really well," O'Rourke said. "With that angle of me sort of falling away, it sort of opens up that little dab shot. Yeah, maybe we could have been in the game a little bit, but he played it so well.

"I would have liked to be a little bit tighter. Obviously, one of his strengths is that [the late cut]. So, yeah, I would have liked to be a little bit tighter, but I was missing a little bit wide, and he put me away. So credit to him."

O'Rourke has had a rousing start to his Test career. This is his fifth Test and he has already picked up 26 wickets at 18.84, which includes two five-fors. Fifteen of his 26 wickets have been in the subcontinent. He had an excellent tour of Sri Lanka last month where he picked up eight wickets in two Tests, and has continued his good run in India.

"I think we had a really good prep in Tauranga and down in Lincoln," he said about his success in the subcontinent. "We had a few wickets that were a bit drier than probably what we are used to at that time of the year in New Zealand. And yeah, learning from the guys like Matt Henry, Tim Southee, who have been here before and done it before, it's been massive for me coming here."

In the first innings here, O'Rourke picked up four wickets, including Virat Kohli's for a duck.

"It's obviously pretty special getting someone so great, one of the greats of our game, out like that," he said of the Kohli wicket. "You grow up watching those guys. So to come here and take that wicket, it's probably right up there as one of the [best] wickets I've got."

While O'Rourke has been pleasantly surprised by the bounce he has seen on the Bengaluru surface, he is also loving bowling with the SG ball.

"It has got a bit more of a pronounced seam than the Kookaburra [that New Zealand use at home], so it seems to be nice and hard to start with. It goes through nicely and big seams are always a big plus. [It's] my first time here and [Bengaluru] probably had a little bit more bounce, a bit more pace than we expected coming over here, which suits a bowler like me. So far, I've really enjoyed it.

"We definitely do our scouting and stuff before games. I'd say at the moment in my career, I'm more of a feel bowler. I like to back what I do, run in and do what I do. But definitely I have a look at the players beforehand, I like to know their strengths and weaknesses. But I think it normally comes back to just being me and doing what I do."