Brilliant all-rounder Melie Kerr named Aramco Player of the Tournament

Wednesday, 23 October 2024 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Aramco Player of the Tournament Melie Kerr

New Zealand’s talismanic all-rounder Melie Kerr has been named Aramco Player of the Tournament after helping the White Ferns to the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 title.

Kerr was brilliant in all aspects of the game throughout the tournament, turning in another match-winning display against South Africa in Sunday’s T20 World Cup final in Dubai.

The 24-year-old finished the tournament as its leading wicket-taker, bagging 15 wickets in six matches with her leg-spin and scoring 135 runs.

“I’m a little bit speechless and I’m just so stoked to get the win,” Kerr said, after also being named Player of the Match in Sunday’s final. “It’s what dreams are made of.

“You want to be a big-match player and I guess bowling through those middle overs, it’s when the best batters are constructing their innings and if you can make a breakthrough it can push teams back and that’s my job. Wickets come and go and thankfully they’ve come my way this tournament.”

Kerr was her team’s third-highest scorer in the tournament, after openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer. And she saved her best until last with the bat, playing a crucial anchoring role for her team in the final, top-scoring with 43 from 38 deliveries, to ensure the White Ferns racked up a highly competitive total.

Coming in at the end of the second over, Kerr led the recovery, built a platform, and then accelerated late on before falling in the penultimate over as New Zealand reached 158/5.

With the ball, it wasn’t just the number of Kerr’s wickets, but the significance of the players she dismissed that made Kerr so impactful.

So often turned to when New Zealand needed a breakthrough, the Aramco Player of the Tournament showed that golden touch once again in the final, picking up South Africa’s influential captain Laura Wolvaardt and semi-final hero Anneke Bosch in one match-defining over.

Kerr finished as the tournament’s top wicket-taker, three ahead of second-placed Nonkululeko Mlaba of South Africa.

Rosemary Mair (10) and Eden Carson (9) where the other leading wicket-takers for the White Ferns, as they won the Women’s T20 World Cup for the first time.