Women’s T20 WC: ICC names Nimali Perera, Claire Polosak as Match Officials for final

Dubai, Oct 19 (IANS) Sri Lanka’s Nimali Perera and Claire Polosak of Australia will umpire their first ICC Women’s T20 World Cup final as they take charge of South Africa v New Zealand on Sunday. Anna Harris will act as the third umpire, with Jacquline Williams serving as the fourth umpire while G.S. Lakshmi has been selected as the match referee for the final in Dubai, the ICC informed in a release on Saturday.

Perera stood in the semifinal between Australia and South Africa earlier in the tournament, having also officiated last year’s semifinal between Australia and India.

Claire Polosak is a highly experienced umpire, with Sunday marking her 64th career women’s T20 international, and the 2024 final marks the first time she will oversee an ICC World Cup final. Polosak was one of the on-field umpires during the 2023 edition of the Women’s T20 World Cup semifinals in South Africa, as well as this year’s semifinal between West Indies and New Zealand in Sharjah.

The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup is set to have a first-time winner when New Zealand and South Africa play the final on Sunday/

Sophie Devine’s New Zealand completed a narrow win over West Indies in Sharjah on Friday to seal their place in Sunday’s showpiece, where they will hope to lift the trophy for the first time.

Their opponents South Africa defeated six-time champions Australia in the first semifinal on Thursday and will be looking to go one better than the last edition, when they were losing finalists on home soil.

This will be just the second time that the Proteas have reached the final of a major tournament, following their run in 2023, which ended with a 19-run loss to Australia in Cape Town.

For the White Ferns, Sunday’s final will be their first appearance in a T20 World Cup final in 14 years. The Kiwis were losing finalists in each of the first two editions of the tournament, beaten by England in 2009 and Australia in 2010.

Only three teams have ever won the Women’s T20 World Cup across its eight previous editions. England won the inaugural event on home soil at Lord’s, and West Indies triumphed at Eden Gardens in 2016.

Beaten semifinalists Australia have won the other six titles, including at each of the three previous tournaments. Neither New Zealand nor South Africa have won a T20 World Cup title across the men’s and women’s tournaments.

–IANS

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