New Zealand pocketed massive prize money after winning the 2024 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup on Sunday in a confident finale held at Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
The White Ferns clinched their maiden T20 tournament title after defeating South Africa by 32 runs. It was all thanks to Amelia Kerr’s 37-run partnership with Suzie Bates and Kerr’s brilliant 3/24 takedown in the second innings. Her endeavours brought her the Player of the Match trophy.
The New Zealand women’s cricket team didn’t just win the adoration of their peers but also fat cash, thanks to the ICC bumping the cash prize. The champions will receive $2.34 million (Rs 19.6 crore) as prize money to be equally divided between the players. Each player is set to take home $155,000 (Rs 1.3 crore).
Now that win is nearly equal to the entire prize pool fixed for the previous edition.
Meanwhile, runners-up South Africa has bagged $1.17 million (Rs 9.8 crore).
The huge sum is all thanks to the ICC lifting the total prize pool for the 2024 edition to $7,958,080 (Rs 66.5 crore)—more than triple the total prize money of $2.45 million awarded during the 2023 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup when Australia took home its sixth title.
This year, Australia was defeated in the semi-finals by South Africa. The Southern Stars, along with fellow semi-finalist West Indies, bagged $675,000 each.
Meanwhile, teams that finished third and fourth in their respective groups—India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and England—will receive a sum of $270,000. The teams that finished last will only receive $135,000 each.
The ICC’s move to increase the prize money has now put the women’s tournament nearly at par with the men’s. The women’s tournament winner just fell short of the winning amount that champions India bagged during the 2024 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. The team won an impressive $2.45 million.
However, from a bird’s eye view, the total prize pool finalised for the women’s tournament in 2024 is still 29% short of that kept for the men’s tournament—which totalled a whopping $11.45 million.
