South Africa fans make their presence felt during the final on Sunday (Photo | EPS / Gomesh S)
CAPE TOWN: The pacer is at the top of the run-up. The crowd is using the clap banners uniformly, beating on the hoardings and using their hands to build up the noise. As the fast bowler runs in, the noise only grows and peaks when the ball leaves the bowler's hand. The next reaction would be an "Oooooh" with a collective sigh or a "Yesssssss" with a roar that engulfs the stadium. If you were hearing it on the radio, you would think that it was the first hour of a Boxing Day Ashes Test at Melbourne Cricket Ground with Pat Cummins running in. Except it isn't.
The stadium is Newlands. The bowler is Shabnim Ismail. It is the final of the 2023 ICC Women's T20 World Cup. With 13,860 tickets issued, 12782 fans turned up to fill the stadium at the foot of Table Mountain and cheer for the hosts.
On Sunday, every ball is an event. The build-up to every ball is the same — whether it is Ismail, Marizanne Kapp, Chloe Tryon, Ayabonga Khaka, Nadine de Klerk, or Nonkululeko Mlaba. Their families are in the stands and so are some of the players whom they shared the dressing room with --- Trisha Chetty and Mignon du Preez.
Irrespective of the action that was unfolding on the field, it was a historic day for South African cricket. As soon as the team beat England in the semifinal, over 9,500 tickets were sold on Friday night. People were lining up at the booking counters from 6.00 AM on Saturday. It was the first time their senior cricket team was playing in a World Cup final and they all wanted to be a part of it. To be able to say, "I was there when it happened".
What makes it all even more incredible is the fact that the crowd that turned up on Sunday at Newlands is quite possibly the highest for any women's sporting event in the country, leave alone a cricket match. For the Proteas women, it is something they have never experienced anything remotely close to this — home or abroad. After every wicket, after every stop on the boundary line, after every fielding effort, after every ball, they were cheered on.
After the 86.174 crowd attendance at the MCG three years ago, the women's game was pulled back a few years because of the pandemic. However, on Sunday, it was healthy, the sold-out signs on the counters were a reflection of the popularity of the event. The Proteas women made it happen. The anthem for this year's World Cup was Turn It Up. The fans certainly turned up and turned it up a notch. Irrespective of the result, it is only going to be better from here on.
