Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates, the teammates, friends, colleagues and the duo who have shared joys, and heartbreaks and saw some tough times together - finally realised their dream of winning a World Cup together. After years of faltering at the final hurdle or not being good enough to make the finals in a few years, this was New Zealand's first T20 World Cup title, at that very venue where the men lost to Australia, the women got across the line.
As the final ball of the match was bowled, Devine and Bates were fielding near each other in the circle. Devine was relieved and seemed to be soaking it in while walking towards Bates, who was a little more excited as the two embraced each other and let the emotions flow. They kept moving in circles as the hug lasted a few seconds. You could feel that it was pent-up and waiting to be unleashed and what better than after winning the World Cup.
"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," Devine said on Bates in the post-match presentation. "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."
Through the tournament, Devine has been able to articulate what she feels about Bates as a fellow senior player in the squad, almost starting their journey with the White Ferns at the same time and finally being able to realise a dream, they saw together, including the third component of the 'grandmas' trio, Lea Tahuhu.
An unlikely winner featuring two senior pros with South Africa as the losing finalist? The storylines of the ICC Men's and Women's T20 World Cup 2024 are not too dissimilar. The hug between Devine and Bates reminded everyone of the one between Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli including ICC's social media team. Devine said she is not retiring and Bates might have played her last T20 World Cup, who knows but Kohli and Rohit did bid goodbye to the T20Is after winning the tournament earlier in June in the West Indies and the USA.
As Kohli was walking up the steps, en emotional Rohit encountered him and the duo shared a beautiful moment with each other. During the Mumbai feliciation of the whole team, Kohli on that moment had said, "This is the first time in 15 years of playing together that I've seen Rohit show so much emotions on the field. When I was walking up the steps, I was crying, he was crying, and we hugged. For me, that's going to be a very special memory from that day, because all said and done, after so many years, our only goal has been this. The only goal has been Indian cricket and the Indian flag. And that's what we take pride in."
